


Puppy Love

by CobraBi



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, M/M, but they get together so don't worry!, johnny is basically just pining, the other ships are minor, this lawrusso fic is very slow (sorry)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27100636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobraBi/pseuds/CobraBi
Summary: Johnny is a werewolf and no one knows until he has to let Miguel in on his secret. He wants Miguel to help keep him calm during full moons so he doesn't try to go after Daniel. Things don't always go as planned and he escapes one night. Actually, he finds himself escaping a lot to Daniel's house and Daniel finds himself forming a bond with the big "dog" that shows up at his house at random times. Johnny soon figures out that he wants to be closer to Daniel and this is the only way he can be. It all depends on how long he can keep this charade up...
Relationships: Amanda LaRusso/Daniel LaRusso, Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz/Samantha LaRusso
Comments: 147
Kudos: 241





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is to set the story. Also, I see a show and I go: This needs a werewolf AU immediately.

“Hey, kid, c’ mere!” 

Miguel put away his phone and diligently ran over to his Sensei. “Yes, Sensei, what is it?” He wondered as he watched the man dig around in the back of the trunk of his car. Johnny didn’t answer but pulled out a coil of chains and slammed the trunk closed. “Are those for the class?” He asked quizzically. 

Johnny looked at him with a squint and then shook his head. “No, they’re for me.” He said as if Miguel had just said something really stupid. “C’mon.” He jerked his head for Miguel to follow him as he made his way back to his apartment.

“Okay…” Miguel frowned, already more confused than his usual interactions with his Sensei. “What do you mean they’re for you?” The teenager waited until Sensei Lawrence was at his apartment door to ask this.

“I’ll explain it to you in a sec, kid.” Johnny replied, fiddling with his key. “What I’m about to say to you may sound like I’ve fucking lost it but it’s all legit. I swear it.”

“Uh…” That was all Miguel had to say at the time.

“Look you can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you either, got it, Diaz?” Now his Sensei sounded serious as he hesitated to unlock the door to look at Miguel. “It’s got to be our little secret or else I might just kick your ass.” Even though the last part was more of a joke, there was a definite threat concealed in there.

“I understand, Sensei.” Miguel nodded even though he didn’t understand a thing. “It’ll be our secret.”

The older man looked him up and down. “Good, I trust you, Diaz.” He finally pushed the door open and walked inside the apartment and Miguel followed, closing the door behind him.

Johnny stopped short right before the kitchen and turned to face Miguel. “These chains-” He held them out for Miguel to see. “Are for me because I’m a werewolf.”

Miguel let out a laugh. “Good one, Sensei.” He grinned but his Sensei didn’t return it.

“It’s true. I am. And I can prove it.” Johnny said seriously.

Miguel stared at him. ‘This had to be a prank, right?’ He thought or else Johnny was seriously messed up. He wanted to believe the man since he was his Sensei and all but it was so ridiculous. “How?” He questioned.

“Follow me.” Johnny said and motioned for Miguel to follow him into his bedroom.

Miguel wasn’t sure what to expect but then he let out “Holy shit!” as he saw the mess that was Sensei Lawrence’s bedroom. The walls had deep scratches on them as if some kind of animal had been trapped there and the floor was even torn up. Not to mention the posts of the bed looked chewed and attached to the wall was a hook that had a chain secured to it. Johnny leaned down and unhooked the chain there which looked worn down and attached his new chain to it. Miguel hadn’t noticed before that the end of the chain had a big metal collar hooked to it with a heavy-duty padlock keeping it closed. 

“Are you keeping some animal chained up in here?” Miguel was horrified. 

The older man traced the scratches with his fingers. “Nope, just me.”

“Sensei, I want to believe you but this is seriously weird.” He pointed out.

“Have I ever lied to you?” Johnny asked.

“Well…” Miguel paused.

“Don’t answer that.” His Sensei cut him off. “Just know if I was going to prank you, I’d think up a better story than this one. Even if you think I’m on drugs or something, just hear me out and then make your judgment.”

“Yes, Sensei.” He answered firmly. “How- how long have you been a werewolf?”

“I was bitten some years ago before Robby was born.” Johnny shrugged. “I didn’t pass it down to him, I think it only works with a bite. I was on a bender, late at night when this big dog attacked me. Well, I thought it was a dog at first but it was a wolf. The bite hurt like a bitch and I passed out but by the time I came to, the bite was already healing. I just shrugged it off until the full moon came and I woke up naked in the park. Turns out I changed without realizing it and ran around doing fuck all. I’m not sure if I hurt anyone when I was getting the feel of the change but sometimes I woke up with blood in my mouth.” He paused to look at Miguel to see if he was freaking him out (he was a little). “Anyway, eventually I got control over it which was hard seeing as I didn’t have anyone else I knew that was a werewolf to guide me. I could’ve had a werewolf Sensei.” He chuckled to himself. “It’s weird the way it works. Sometimes the full moon hits me and I’m just out of my head. I run around all night and then wake up in the morning wondering where I’ve been. Other times I’m in perfect control and I shift easily so I remember it all and I get to choose what I do. Most times I can ever make myself shift when there’s no moon at all. It’s complicated but I think each time has to do with how I’m feeling leading up the moon. It’s about how much control I feel I have in my life which either results in me trying to piece together where I was last night and what I did or me choosing my fate or some shit.” He shrugged. “Are you getting that?”

Miguel blinked rapidly, trying his best to absorb the information coming at him. “Yeah, I think so.” He said unsurely. “What does all of this have to do with me, Sensei?”

Johnny paused as if thinking about how to answer. “I’ve been chaining myself up lately when the full moon comes. You could probably tell by the scratches. I don’t normally do that even if I risk the chance of not being aware of myself in the shift. I used to do it when I thought I was out of control so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I’ve started doing it again though.”

“Why?” Miguel wondered.

“Ever since LaRusso came back into my life, I could tell I was losing control again. And especially since he’s been playing father to my damn son…” Johnny said bitterly. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, not even him, so I decided to chain myself up. I just know if I shifted I would go find him. Even on my wolf brain, I know where he lives. What if I bit him or worse?” The words hung heavy in the air before he began again. “Before the moon comes out, I hook this collar around my neck, padlock it, and put the key out of reach, but not so out of reach that I can’t unlock myself in the morning. I can’t unlock the collar with my paws so it works. Even if it seems like I have all my bases covered, this is where you come in.” He looked at Miguel and finally rose to his feet.

“Yes, Sensei?” The teenager asked hesitantly.

“I’ve been working these chains hard and ripping up my room.” The older man gestured to the carnage. “I think it would be good for me to have someone to come in and check on me which is where you come in. You get to make sure that I don’t break out and go after LaRusso.”

“M-me?” Miguel stammered. “Bu- but aren’t you going to be dangerous, Sensei? What if you attack me?” It felt weird to start buying into this. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Johnny waved him off. “You’re my buddy. I’m sure seeing you would calm me down.”

“But you’re not certain? What about if you break loose? What am I supposed to do then?” Miguel swallowed nervously.

“Worrying is for pussies.” Johnny said dismissively which did nothing to ease Miguel’s nervousness. “I promise that I won’t hurt you. You’re the only one I can trust with this information, so don’t let me down.” He clapped Miguel on the back.

“I’m still not sure I believe you, Sensei.” Miguel admitted this was hard to swallow. 

“You will. Come back here later tonight and see for yourself.” He shot Miguel finger guns as he went out and towards the kitchen. Right before he got to the fridge, he spun on his heel and back around to face his student. “But maybe don’t come right when the moon comes up, okay? I’m gonna be naked so it would be really awkward for the both of us if you came in on me like that, got it?” He opened the fridge to grab a beer.

“Got it.” Miguel nodded dumbly.

“What’re you still standing around here for?” Johnny sipped his beer. “Go on, scram. Come back later.” He made a shooshing motion with his hand. 

“Oh! Sorry, Sensei.” He smiled awkwardly and left the apartment feeling very bewildered. It would be a few more hours until sundown. He wasn’t sure what laid in store for him.

\-------

It was late. A few hours past sundown when Miguel found himself outside of Sensei Lawrence’s door. The moon was full and bright in the sky. A perfect werewolf moon actually. He felt silly as he put the spare key into the lock. The man had to be pulling his leg about him being a werewolf but he hadn’t seemed drunk, hungover or even on drugs which was funny. “This is silly.” He murmured to himself as his face flushed in embarrassment. He considered turning back but he had told his Sensei that he would be back. With a deep sigh, he turned the key and pushed the door open. 

The apartment was dimmer than usual and the door to Johnny’s bedroom was slightly ajar. “Sensei? Sensei Lawrence?” He called out into the gloom but there was no answer. He closed the door behind him and as the door clicked shut, he heard what sounded like the clanking of chains and footsteps. Miguel hesitantly approached the door and pushed it open with a creak.

“Holy shit!” He gasped in shock as two bright blue eyes met his own brown eyes. There was only one light in the room and he nearly fell back as a great big shadow jumped out at him from the gloom. The chain creaked and the beast fell back with a snarl. There was the biggest wolf he had ever seen in his life. Not that he had the chance to see many wolves up close, he didn’t even think there were wolves in California but he had seen some in zoos. This wolf easily dwarfed a normal wolf and was double in size. There was no mistaking it, this great blonde scruffy wolf was Johnny Lawrence. It had his eyes and it seemed his hotheaded temperament as it peeled its lips back in a snarl and tried lunging at him again. The teeth it had were the size of knives and he did not want to be on the receiving end of those chompers. 

He reminded himself that “it” was not an it but in fact his Sensei who had entrusted him with this secret. Though he didn’t see how his presence was going to calm the werewolf down at all. “Sensei, it’s me, Miguel. You know me, right?” He attempted but he was met with a growl. “I would let you sniff my hand like you do with a dog or cat but I’m afraid you might bite me right now, Sensei.” Miguel explained nervously and a little apologetically. “It sucks that you have to be chained up but that’s just the way things are.”

The wolf gave a snort that easily could have been out of irritation. It occurred to Miguel that he wasn’t sure how long he was supposed to stay there. Was this supposed to be an all-night watch? Or was he just supposed to get Johnny to calm down? He thought the latter but he wasn’t all that sure. 

All he knew was that it was going to be a long night but by the time it was 1 am, the werewolf had stopped pacing and lunging and was now fast asleep. Miguel smiled to himself, knowing that he had succeeded in what his Sensei had wanted.

\-------

“How did it go?” Sensei Lawrence asked as he pulled Miguel into his office at the dojo.

“Pretty well, I think.” Miguel grinned. “You didn’t find my bloody corpse when you got changed back and I’m not a werewolf.”

“Yeah, but how was I?” 

“Hm…” Miguel paused. “You weren’t very happy when I first came in. You were lunging and snapping at me. It was kind of scary at first but then you seemed to recognize me and you calmed down. Do you remember any of that?” He studied his Sensei’s face.

Johnny looked to be concentrating. “Sort of…” He shrugged. “Anyways, good work, Diaz! I knew I could count on you.” He held out his fist to bump it against Miguel’s with a smile.

“No problem, Sensei!” Miguel enthused, returning the gesture. “By the way, Sensei, your wolf form is badass!”

“Thanks, kid.” His Sensei laughed. “See you on the next full moon.”

“You can count on me!” The teenager bowed to him before running back out to train.


	2. Chapter 2

Miguel slid the key into the lock. It was another full moon and he had a job to do. Luckily enough this job never got boring and he found that wolf Johnny was kind of fun (when he wasn’t trying to break his own neck to get off the chain). Sometimes his Sensei said he remembered what happened in the night and he broke out of his state a little, other times he didn’t remember anything that happened. Miguel still didn’t quite understand this werewolf thing but he was learning. It felt good to be so trusted by Sensei Lawrence in the first place. He didn’t want to pat himself on the back or anything but he felt they were making definite progress.

He smiled to himself as he closed the door. “Sorry, I’m a little late, Sensei! I had to do some things around the house for my mom.” He called out and then paused when he didn’t hear anything. Not even a growl or any chains clinking. Maybe the werewolf was asleep? It could just be a quiet night for him. The teenager approached the bedroom door and pushed it open wide and then his face fell with horror when he noticed something on the ground. The chains were lying there slack; not only had the chain link been ripped from the wall but the thick collar had been broken open as well.

“Oh no…” Miguel moaned despairingly, rubbing his hands over his face. This was so not good. “I’m fucked.” He almost laughed at just how bad the situation was. Some small part of him wondered if the wolf was just hiding from him? But where would he even hide? The apartment was super small and the wolf was super big. “How did you even get out, Sensei?” He groaned and then spotted the open window. “Oh. Shit, Mr. LaRusso!” He had been so caught up in the shock of the lost werewolf that he had forgotten Johnny’s intention for chaining himself up in the first place. Miguel had no idea how much of a headstart the wolf got but he needed to get over there immediately.

As he grabbed his Sensei’s spare chain and collar, he almost considered calling Sam but what would he say? ‘Sam, you need to make sure that your dad stays inside the house and maybe call the police because there is a big wolf headed over to your house and he might kill your dad?’ As if he would say something crazy like that to her. They had only just made amends recently, he didn’t need to come off as a weirdo. Besides, it was late and he didn’t even know if his Sensei was there for sure. 

After pedaling as fast as he could go, Miguel arrived out of breath in front of the LaRusso residence. The lights were still on in the house and he didn’t see any carnage so far which was good. Unless the carnage was inside which was not good. Oh god, he had to stop overthinking every little thing.

He laid the bike in the grass and started to look around, keeping a low profile though. “Sensei! Sensei Lawrence, where are you? Please come out so we can go home!” He whispered, hoping the wolf had good hearing. Miguel was so caught up in his worry and peering around in the bushes and the darkness that he didn’t notice the front door opening until it was too late.

“Hello? Who’s out there?” Miguel froze when he heard the voice of Mr. LaRusso from behind him.

‘Oh shit.’ Was all he could think.

“Heyyy, Mr. LaRusso.” Miguel answered nervously, hiding the chain behind his back as he turned around to face the man.

“Miguel?” Daniel squinted in confusion at the teen as he put his phone back into his pocket. “What are you doing out here?” He didn’t sound like he wanted to drop his guard completely.

“I- uh, I-” He stammered nervously, now put on the spot.

“If you’re looking for Sam, she’s asleep already. Don’t you guys have some big test tomorrow?” Mr. LaRusso frowned crossing his arms. 

“Oh, right! The test!” Miguel laughed nervously, slapping a hand to his forehead causing the chains to rattle and Mr. LaRusso cocked his head to the side and tried to see what Miguel had. “But- I’m not actually here for Sam… You see, my dog got loose and I’m trying to find him.”

“Your dog?” Mr. LaRusso raised his eyebrows and didn’t sound convinced.

“Yes, sir.” Miguel nodded.

“Do you need some help?” The adult offered.

The teen shook his head quickly. What he needed was Daniel to get back inside. His Sensei was worried about LaRusso being harmed so the last place he wanted Daniel to be was outside with him right now and looking for his would-be attacker. “No, no, it’s cool. I can find him by myself. No need to trouble yourself.” He smiled and hoped this would convince the man.

Mr. LaRusso had a look on his face like he knew that Miguel was full of shit and Miguel started to sweat. “No, it’s no trouble. I would feel bad leaving a kid out in the dark to search all alone and so late too.” He glanced at his watch as he said this.

Miguel’s smile quickly disappeared from his face. If he insisted anymore, Mr. LaRusso might get suspicious of his true intentions there. It was a lose-lose situation. He still wasn’t sure if the man liked him since he was in Cobra Kai and the whole tournament debacle… “Alright, thank you.” He forced the smile back on his face and hoped to god that Johnny was either not there or not that angry tonight. 

“No problem.” The man smiled and then walked over to Miguel and kind of paused to look at the chains that Miguel had hidden previously.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.” Daniel mused.

“Yeah, me neither.” Miguel mumbled to himself.

Daniel cocked his head. “Did you say something?” He asked curiously.

“Uh, nope.” He lied.

“How do you know your dog is here?” Daniel asked. “You said he escaped from your house but why would he come here?” 

It was a good question but he wouldn’t be able to give a good answer. “Trust me, I won’t be able to explain it to you but he’s here. Somewhere.” Miguel said, looking around in the darkness. Where was his Sensei?

“You don’t look like you’re trying to catch a dog. More like you’re trying to wrangle a bear.” Daniel snorted. “That’s a big chain you have there.” He commented and then looked more closely at it. “Actually that’s an actual chain and not a dog chain? What kind of dog do you have?”

Miguel swallowed uneasily. “He’s a big dog. Definitely part wolf somewhere in there. He’s blonde and wolfish looking. A mutt.”

“Uh-huh.” Daniel seemed a little nervous. “How big are we talking? Is he dangerous?”

Miguel hesitated. “He’s not the best around strangers but he’s not vicious.” ‘I hope.’ He added internally.

“You hesitated.” Daniel pointed out warily. He opened his mouth to say something else but they both turned their attention to the growling that came up the driveway. 

The blue eyes of the wolf glowed unnaturally in the dark and his head was lowered with a snarl on his lips as he approached the two humans. The darkness made him look very unfriendly.

“The hell? That doesn’t look like a dog to me.” Daniel took a step back. “I hope he has his rabies shot.”

“He does but I wouldn’t let him bite you regardless.” Miguel cautioned and Daniel looked at him like he was crazy. He knew Johnny had told him about the curse being spread through a bite and even he didn’t want to be bitten.

“Are you going to call him? What’s his name?” LaRusso asked.

“J-” Actually he hadn’t gotten that far with calling Johnny a fake name so he just picked what came into his head. “Cobra. It’s Cobra.”

“Of course it is.” Daniel shook his head and laughed. “I should have known.”

“Cobra, come here, boy! That’s a good dog, come here!” Miguel motioned to the werewolf desperately. So far the wolf had his eyes locked on Daniel and he wasn’t interested in Miguel’s coaxing. It felt a little strange acting like his Sensei was just some dog, he wasn’t even sure that Johnny would come to him at all since he wasn’t using his name. Though it would be weird to name a dog after your Sensei in the first place… He really hoped this was just a defensive act Sensei Lawrence had going on and it wasn’t because the werewolf was hungry for blood. 

When the wolf took a few menacing steps forward, he started to get worried. “Maybe you should go inside, Mr. LaRusso.” Miguel suggested.

“Yeah, I think so too...” Daniel said, eyeing the wolf nervously. As he made a move to go back into his house, to Miguel’s horror, the wolf charged.

“Oh no! Cobra don’t!” Miguel cried and he locked eyes with Mr. LaRusso. “Mr. LaRusso run!”

Daniel didn’t have to hear it twice as the wolf came at him with a growl. Miguel let out a sigh of relief as the man slid into his house and slammed the door in the werewolf’s face. He had cut it close though and the wolf was unnaturally fast. Unfortunately, it meant that he was now left out there alone with an angry Johnny.

The wolf ran right into the door with a bang, bouncing off, and then kind of stood there in confusion. Then after a few seconds, he turned to face Miguel.

\--------

As soon as Daniel closed the door behind him, he felt regret even as the dog that had been after him slammed into the door. What kind of adult left a kid out there to fend for himself? Even if that dog was Miguel’s, this Cobra didn’t look or act particularly friendly. He had his hand on the doorknob when he let out a startled gasp of horror as the wolf-dog charged at the teenager.

Cobra made contact with Miguel in the form of headbutting him in the stomach and bowled him over. Daniel held his breath as if awaiting something terrible to happen. But nothing happened, the huge dog sat by Miguel and waited for him to get his breath back.

\--------

“Shit!” Miguel cried as his Sensei charged him. He could already see his life flashing before his eyes and it came in the form of a… headbutt to the stomach? He fell flat on his back with a wheeze as the chains fell from his hands. Johnny then sat expectantly by his side as he held his stomach with a groan. The force definitely felt less like a kick and more like a tap with a car.

“Was that really necessary, Sensei?” He groaned as he got to his feet. “You could have just acted like you knew me, not this.” He wasn’t sure if Sensei Lawrence was in control right now but at least he wasn’t acting viciously. “C’mon, we need to go.” Miguel picked up the leash and parted the heavy collar so he could place it around the werewolf’s neck. Johnny’s fur was thick around his neck and a little coarse. The wolf didn’t resist and he was able to get everything clicked into place. 

Miguel got an inkling that Mr. LaRusso was watching the two of them out there. “Good boy.” He said a little placatingly as he gave the wolf a pat on the head and ruffled his fur. “Let’s go home.” He pulled the chain but found that his Sensei was staring at the door of the house again and wasn’t budging. “Oh great.” He sighed. “You can’t get to, Mr. LaRusso, Sensei. We need to go before it gets light out.” It was like attempting to move a brick wall.

He was nearly about to call it quits when the werewolf raised his head and let out a howl into the night sky. The howl sounded mournful to Miguel and it gave him chills. As he shook himself to get rid of the feeling, Johnny jerked the chain and headed over to where Miguel’s bike was. He didn’t know what changed but he was grateful that they’d be finally heading home. Though he wasn’t really sure if it was a good idea to have his Sensei run alongside the bike but he’d cross that bridge when he got to it.

\--------

Miguel yawned as he closed his locker. Last night had definitely not been his best night. Or even his Sensei’s for that matter but at least no one died or was bitten.

Someone came up behind him and smooched him on the cheek.

“Oh hey, babe.” He said to Sam sleepily.

“Long night?” She asked sympathetically as she took her hands off his waist. 

“You don’t know the half of it.” He smiled at her lopsidedly.

“Well,” Sam moved in front of him. “I heard your dog tried to attack my dad. I didn’t even know you had a dog, Miguel.”

Miguel scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, can you tell your dad I’m sorry about that? Cobra isn’t my dog by the way. He’s a friend's dog. I think my mom would kill me if I got a dog.”

“I heard this dog was huge. Do you have any pictures?” His girlfriend asked curiously.

Now Miguel would never admit this to his Sensei and he had felt a little guilty doing this since it was probably an invasion of privacy and possibly a violation of trust, but he did have pictures. Like who could resist taking pictures of cute/cool animals? Even Miguel couldn’t resist the pull. Since Sam’s father had already seen “Cobra”, he didn’t think it would hurt if he let Sam see the wolf too. It’s not like he was spilling his Sensei’s big secret. “I do. Here, let me pull them up…” He pulled out his phone and accessed his photo library. He clicked on the one where he was leaning up against the werewolf and the wolf was looking at the camera as Miguel gave a big grin and flashed the peace sign. In hindsight, maybe using the perhaps unstable werewolf as a pillow wasn’t the best idea but Sensei Lawrence was usually chill after his first acts of aggression once he recognized Miguel.

“Oh my god.” Sam basically took the phone from his hand. “That’s Cobra? No wonder my dad was freaked. He looks really mellow here though.”

“He’s just uh, a bit temperamental.” Miguel explained. That was definitely understating things but what else could he say?

“By the way,” Sam said as she let go of the phone. “Do you think you’re ready for the test?”

He blinked at her slowly. “What test?”

They both stared at each other before Miguel’s tired brain caught up with him.

“Oh no! I’m dead!” He cried out as she winced. He had been so caught up in chores and then wrangling the rogue werewolf that studying had slipped his mind.

\--------

“Things didn’t go so well last night, Sensei.” Miguel admitted to the man. “You escaped, tried to attack Mr. LaRusso and I think I failed my test.”

“Yeah, I remember some of that.” His Sensei sighed, even he looked like he had a rough night.

“Were you going to hurt Mr. LaRusso?” The teenager asked hesitantly.

“Probably. I don’t know.” The man sounded like he didn’t want to comment.

Miguel decided to leave it at that but he had to ask one final thing. “Why did you headbutt me, Sensei?”

Johnny raised his eyebrows but he had a smirk on his lips. “Diaz, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m just gonna assume you were trying to teach me some lesson about striking first.” Miguel shrugged as he walked back to the karate class.

“That’s right, Diaz, never let your guard down!” Johnny called after him jokingly but his smile died after Miguel turned his back. Some parts of the night had been blurry to him but he remembered stalking outside of LaRusso’s house and he remembered coming after Daniel. It bothered him though that he couldn’t pinpoint what he felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went over this chapter a bunch and I'm not 100% satisfied but I wanted to post. Johnny only gets to chase Daniel here because if he tried to bite Daniel then maybe Daniel would not like his company after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me a bit because it's considerably longer than the others. Also, this fic takes place sometime in season 2. Robby doesn't live with the LaRusso's for the sake of the story.

“Sorry, Sensei, I can’t make it tonight.” Miguel told him regretfully. “My mom would like to do something with me and I can’t say no.”

“It’s fine.” Johnny waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You sure, Sensei?” The teenager asked tentatively. 

“I’m sure. I haven’t escaped since that one time and I think I’ve calmed down since then.” Johnny shrugged. “I’m sure I can last one night without you.” 

“If you say so.” Miguel smiled.

“Go have fun, kid.” Johnny called after him.

\--------

“Why is everyone up so late?” Amanda frowned at everyone around her in the living room. “There’s something called school for you two.” She pointed out to Anthony and Sam. “And we have some meetings tomorrow.” She looked at Daniel.

“Right. Your mother is right.” Daniel agreed sheepishly. “It is late. Off to bed you two.” He motioned at his kids.

Anthony rolled his eyes but got up and Sam told them goodnight.

“What did I do to get one good kid and one bad kid?” Daniel complained jokingly as he looked after both of them.

“Oh hush.” His wife scolded. “As if you behave yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Daniel asked in mock offense.

“If you even have to ask then you’re really hopeless.” She laughed as she walked towards the direction of their bedroom.

Daniel smiled at her back and looked out the window. The moon was really bright that night and full in the sky. It seemed a little misty out though and he could see raindrops hitting the window. He was admiring the beauty of nature when Amanda screamed causing him to jump in alarm.

He raced over to her as fast as he could. “Honey, what is it?” He asked breathlessly as he nearly slid into her. She was outside the entrance of their room and she looked horrified.

“What is that?” She pointed a shaky finger at something in the room.

“What?” Daniel turned his head to look and his eyes followed her arm. “Oh.” He let out a gasp of shock when he saw it too. There was a big furry mass lying on their bed. A big blonde furry mass that opened its bright blue eyes to stare at them.

“Oh my god, is that a wolf?” He heard the enthusiastic voice of Anthony come from behind the both of them and he turned to see Sam and his son standing there. They had obviously come to see why their mom had screamed.

Daniel looked back at the animal and it looked back at him. Something about its eyes felt off to him like they saw too much or knew something that he didn’t. A shiver ran down his body but he didn’t know why.

“We need to call the police.” Amanda said seriously which broke him out of his thoughts.

“What?” Daniel said in disbelief. He must have sounded so taken aback and befuddled because Amanda looked at him with a frown and a questioning glance.

“Why not? There’s a wolf in our bed, Daniel. What if it’s rabid?” She hissed at him urgently.

“Hold on, that’s not a wolf.” Daniel supplied.

“Oh, then what is it?” His wife did not sound impressed.

“Well, Miguel told me he’s part wolf but that’s a dog. A big dog but a dog all the same.” He explained.

Amanda blinked at him, slowly putting the pieces together. “That’s Miguel’s dog? The one that tried to attack you in the yard?”

“It’s not his dog, it’s his friend's dog.” Sam cut in. “But yeah, that looks like the picture Miguel showed me.”

“I wouldn’t say he tried to attack me.” Daniel deflected. “I was a stranger to him, he was probably trying to protect Miguel.” He shrugged, suddenly unsure as to why he was defending the character of a dog.

“You said he snarled and came at you.” His wife crossed her arms. “And I highly doubt that is a dog. Look at how big it is.”

“Some dogs get big.” He shrugged. “Irish Wolfhounds are big.”

“Leonbergers are really big.” Anthony said excitedly, showing them a picture of the dog on his I-pad. “I think it might hunt bears.” 

Daniel raised his eyebrows and looked at his wife. She still didn’t look satisfied.

“Again, there is a strange dog in our bed and we don’t know how it got in or what it wants.” Amanda said coolly. “I’m not comfortable with strange animals coming into my house uninvited. Especially a strange animal that attacked my husband.”

“Now, honey, you may be over-exaggerating this a little bit.” Daniel said gently and Amanda fixed him with an ‘are you kidding me, right now?’ stare but he powered through it. “I saw Cobra with Miguel on that night and he didn’t hurt Miguel.”

“You said it came at Miguel and knocked him down. This dog also came after you.” She said.

“It looked like Cobra was just playing with Miguel. He got a leash and collar on the dog just fine. Just because he chased me, doesn’t mean he wanted to hurt me. Look, he looks perfectly calm now.” Daniel pointed over at Cobra who now had his head resting on his paws as he watched the family carefully.

“If “Cobra” is so calm then you go over there and get him out of our bed.” Amanda was practically freezing him with her icy glare.

“Yeah, sure, no sweat…” He agreed and then glanced at the giant dog a little warily. What had he gotten himself into now? As he stepped through the doorway, the dog lifted his head and his ears laid back a little. Daniel wasn’t comforted at all by that action. “Here, boy.” He called out softly and motioned for the dog to come. Cobra stared at him blankly and then gave a huff.

“Maybe you should try getting closer.” His wife suggested sarcastically.

‘That wasn’t such a bad idea.’ He thought to himself. Animals usually responded positively to being able to sniff a person's hand. Carefully, he approached the wolf-dog and held out a slightly shaky hand to the animal. He was a little nervous and he hoped the dog wouldn’t pick up too much on that. He was skilled in defending himself but against a dog? Daniel wasn’t so sure. “It’s okay, Cobra. No need to be afraid of me.” He said gently and held his breath a little when Cobra leaned over towards his hand. The dog took a careful sniff of his hand and then licked his hand before pulling away and looking at Daniel expectantly. Daniel turned around with a smile, “Did you see that?” He beamed. Amanda rolled her eyes and the kids gave him a thumbs up. “Now,” He rubbed his hands together. “Down, boy.” He commanded, pointing at the floor. The blonde dog stared at him with its strange eyes and then laid its head down on its paws and went to sleep.

“I’m not sure I would add dog trainer to your list of expertise.” Amanda joked as Daniel stared at the dog in disbelief. “I think we should let some professionals deal with this.”

Overhead the crack of lightning sounded and rain started to pound the roof. Surprises all around it seemed.

“It’s late and now it’s raining. I don’t think we should trouble anyone with this.” Daniel almost didn’t believe the words coming from his mouth right now. “I think it’s best if we deal with this in the morning.” Was he crazy?

His wife stared at him. “And- and let this dog have our bed?” 

“Well, we know Cobra isn’t dangerous but he just won’t leave. Maybe by the time, it's the morning he’ll come around?” He shrugged.

The brunette put a hand to her forehead and shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to agree to this but it seems I’m outvoted. I’ll take the spare bed in the guest house, you take the couch. If anything happens, if your new best friend destroys the bedroom or goes crazy then that’s your ass on the line, Daniel.” She said as she jabbed a finger at her husband. “You deal with it.”

“I can live with that.” Daniel agreed as he watched the sleeping hound.

“I probably wouldn’t have wanted to sleep on the bed anyways unless it was deep cleaned. Who knows where that dog’s been?” Amanda gave a disgusted shiver. “Anyways, the show's over. You two head to bed right now.” She waved at the children to hurry them along. “Oh, and if Cobra attacks you, I told you so.” She smiled sweetly at him before leaving.

“That’s cute.” He called after her sarcastically. Daniel actually really had no clue why he just stuck his neck out for the strange dog. It was weird that the animal felt familiar to him as he watched it up close and it wasn’t because Cobra had come at him previously. He just felt like he knew the dog from elsewhere. “Well, goodnight. I’ll have to see how you behave in the morning.” He looked at the sleeping dog one more time before he turned off the lights and closed the door. Daniel still was at a loss for how Cobra got in though.

\---------

Johnny woke up to the sound of voices. Somehow he felt like this was a little too early for him to be up and his bed was a little too comfortable. The voices must belong to his neighbors he supposed but they sounded too close for comfort. He squinted at his surroundings as he opened his eyes but then he widened them in shock. This was not his apartment. And this was not his bed. The memories of last night ebbed their way into his brain slowly and Johnny was mentally kicking himself for thinking he had this full moon under control. It was bad enough waking up naked in the middle of nowhere but waking up naked on Daniel LaRusso’s bed was skirting on horror movie bad. His ears picked up on someone heading his way. Lucky for him, having just been made to shift under the full moon, it was easy to slip back into his wolfskin with no time to spare too as Daniel opened the door. 

“You’re awake.” The man said pleasantly as if talking to his wife rather than a dog. “Are you going to behave any better?”

‘No.’ He thought in defiance to LaRusso. Johnny looked around Daniel, there was a perfect opportunity for him to spring off the bed and mow down his karate rival so he could make an escape. Though his eyes quickly darted back to Daniel as the man came at him.

Daniel must have noticed Johnny’s apparent caginess because he stopped and held up both his hands in a show of surrender. “It’s just me, you remember last night, boy? We got along fine then.”

Johnny snorted as if they ever really got along “fine”. He watched Daniel carefully as he got closer and closer to the bed.

With a nervously excited breath, Daniel reached a hand out towards the werewolf.

Johnny knew he should pull away but he didn’t. He let Daniel run a hand over his head and massage his thick fur. As Daniel continued petting him, Johnny basically melted under his touch. It occurred to him that he hadn’t been touched by another human in a while or at least not positively for that matter (did fighting even count as touch?). The sensation felt nice even if Daniel was the one doing it. He couldn’t help but thump his tail happily as Daniel scratched behind his ears. When Daniel finally pulled away, it was hard for him not to feel disappointed.

“I knew that toughness was an act.” Daniel looked awfully pleased with himself. “You may look and act like a tough guy but you’re just a big softy under all of that.” He grinned. “Amanda was wrong about you.”

It was more than a little embarrassing to have Daniel talk about him like that but it couldn’t be helped. Johnny watched as Daniel went over to his closet and started taking out some clothes, before he even realized it, the man was getting dressed in front of him. Daniel’s back was to him as he pulled off his shirt and Johnny studied his back. LaRusso always did have the tannest skin he had ever seen and it looked like he kept in good shape. His back was clearly toned like the rest of his body but not overly muscular. Johnny thought he was in pretty good shape too after so many years but LaRusso had always been a stick. Thinking of them as teenagers was difficult for him and when he thought of LaRusso back then, his heart ached for a reason that he couldn’t articulate. Johnny started to feel like a peeping tom, it felt too intimate and it wasn’t for him. He felt hot so he turned away as Daniel had a pair of pants in his hands.

This gave him more time to really take in the details of the room. It was a simple spread but luxurious all the same. What was the word for it? Min- mim- miniature? No, that wasn’t right but he didn’t know the word right now. The mattress for the bed was clearly top-notch. Johnny thought he found his in a dumpster somewhere. Even sniffing around it seemed like they sprayed something good in the air. There were other scents too, he could smell Amanda’s perfume that she had worn when he met her and he could smell Daniel’s cologne. Being here really reminded him of things he didn’t have or used to have. Sometimes it was hard going from a life of luxury to living in some shitty apartment and making little to nothing. Though on one hand, he wouldn’t have been able to meet such a great kid like Miguel or any of the other kids at his dojo. Besides, riches weren’t enough to make up for the lack of love he had felt from Sid. He could feel himself spiraling down this dark depressive hole that came up when he reflected on his life and his past mistakes and he was begging for a distraction when-

“You coming, Cobra?” Daniel asked chirpily as he stood in the doorway. “Come on out of there already.” He motioned at the wolf.

Johnny perked up. The bed gave a creak as he jumped down onto the floor and shook stray hair into the air.

“Shit, you really do have a lot of fur.” LaRusso scratched the back of his neck a little nervously. “Amanda will not be happy with that.” He laughed and then started down the hall.

The werewolf eyed the open door. This was his chance to run, he could blow by Daniel and get the hell out of there. It was perfect. And yet his legs were frozen and after a few seconds, he reluctantly made his way after the other man. When they came up to the kitchen, Johnny spotted Miguel’s girlfriend Sam at the table.

“Go tell your mother that the bedroom is now free, will you, sweetheart?” Daniel asked.

“Sure, dad,” Sam replied, and then her eyes fell on the wolf. “You got him to come out? That’s impressive. You could add dog trainer alongside your karate master title, I don’t care what mom says.” She joked as she headed off.

“Maybe I could.” LaRusso jokingly agreed as he went over and turned the stove on.

‘Oh, that’s right. Daniel was the cook.’ Johnny thought. Like what couldn’t LaRusso do? He could do karate, sell cars, and cook. Johnny could do karate, get blackout drunk and turn into a werewolf… Only one of those was a useful skill. LaRusso made a mean breakfast; he couldn’t disagree with that from the time that he had shown up to fight Daniel after the burning of the car incident. Though the eggs had been under-salted, they were still better than what Johnny ate for breakfast. The blonde wondered what he was cooking now. Daniel had retrieved eggs, ham, and cheese from the fridge and grabbed some bread from the shelf. All of it looked like high-quality shit. LaRusso laid a frying pan on the burners and opened the carton of eggs. It seemed like he was making a fancy breakfast sandwich in Johnny’s opinion. His mouth watered and he hoped that Daniel would be kind enough to give him some.

Daniel seemed to be in his own little world as he made himself that same cup of something that he had dropped when he saw his karate rival standing in his yard. It amazed Johnny with how much of a morning person that Daniel appeared to be. Johnny was in no way shape or form a morning person, he doubted he was even an evening person. Daniel stopped cooking to lay down plates on the table just as his two kids showed up. Johnny forgot the name of his son.

“Smells good, dad.” Sam smiled. “Mom said she’d be out soon.”

The LaRusso’s started talking about things but Johnny tuned them out as he sat on his haunches. What if this could have been what he, Shannon, and Robby had? He wanted to have a nice little family like this but he would probably fuck it up like he fucked up everything else. Deep down inside, he knew that he didn’t even love Robby’s mother either. Maybe he never had. 

He snapped out of it when Daniel came by and ruffled his fur. It seemed the man had done it for his wife’s benefit because she raised her eyebrows at this.

“See? He’s not so bad.” Daniel grinned as he placed a breakfast sandwich on his son's plate.

“Uh-huh.” Amanda sounded thoughtful as she looked the werewolf over. “Excuse me if I still have my reservations.”

“Don’t worry, I’m taking him back to his owner after breakfast.” Her husband assured her.

“Miguel?” Amanda questioned.

“Cobra isn’t his, remember?” Sam piped up.

“Right, then whose is he?” 

“Johnny Lawrence’s obviously.” Daniel replied so confidently like he had just unlocked the secret of the universe. Well, he was dangerously close to Johnny’s secret. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out earlier. The name, the looks, the fact that the dog showed up at my house and it’s so obviously lacking any discipline or training.” He said smugly.

Johnny should have bitten him for that slight but alas, he couldn’t. So he opted for lunging and taking Daniel’s sandwich out of his hands.

“Hey!” Daniel yelped. “Bad dog!” He scolded as Johnny scarfed down the sandwich. “Could’ve taken my hand off…” He mumbled sourly.

“It’s almost as if Cobra knew you were insulting him.” Amanda smirked.

“Yeah, yeah, this is so obviously Johnny’s dog.” LaRusso glared at Johnny who thumped his tail innocently. “I can drop him off before work. It shouldn’t take too long. It’s not like I’ll be making any small talk with John Lawrence.” He said this so flippantly that Johnny almost felt offended again. 

‘Whatever.’ He thought. ‘I didn’t want to make small talk with you either.’

\---------

“Let’s go, boy.” Daniel opened the back door of the car. Johnny snorted and then side-eyed Daniel. As if he was going to sit in the back seat. He jumped inside but then climbed up front and took his place in the passenger seat.

Daniel blinked. “Okay… I guess you can sit there.” He shut the door and went around to the driver’s side. Johnny would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of ripping the stuffing out of Daniel’s car seats. 

After driving a little bit, Daniel glanced over at him. “Do you want the window down?” He asked softly as he pushed the button. It was nice feeling the wind on his fur, it felt like the times he would go out and run and he didn’t do that much anymore (at least not by choice).

When they arrived at Johnny’s place, he got a melancholy feeling as he stepped out of the car. He could see that Daniel hesitated a little before going up to Johnny’s door. The man knocked on the door a few times and then waited. As expected, there was no answer.

Daniel frowned. “Johnny, I saw your car out front.” He resumed his knocking in vain. “I have your dog, you prick. Where are you?” 

There was nothing Johnny could do in this situation but run, so he ran and he left LaRusso behind.

“Hey!” Daniel shouted after him but the werewolf ignored him. He watched from a distance as LaRusso gave up looking for him and got in his car and drove away. Then he jumped back into the window he had gotten out from and got ready for his day.

\---------

Miguel sat at a table with Aisha and Hawk.

“I’m thinking of asking Tory to go to a movie with me.” Aisha said. “What do you think we should see? Horror or romance?” She showed them the movies on her phone.

“How is that even a question?” Hawk snorted. “Horror obviously.” He answered just as Miguel said “Romance.” The two boys stared at each other.

“What?” Miguel shrugged. “Romance movies are a dating staple.”

Hawk rolled his eyes. “Yeah, if you’re in middle school. Do horror because if she gets scared or you get scared, you can cuddle or some shit.”

“I don’t think Tory would get scared by a horror movie.” Aisha murmured thoughtfully. “Me on the other hand…”

“Then it’s settled, pick the horror movie.” The mohawked teen grinned.

Miguel took a big swig of water just as Sam came up to him.

“Hey, your Sensei’s dog was at my house again.” She said and Miguel choked on the water.

“Wait, what?” He demanded in horror after he finished coughing violently while the others looked on in concern.

Sam nodded as she squashed in next to him. “My dad figured out it was his dog. Cobra broke into our house.”

“Sensei Lawrence has a dog?” Aisha asked curiously.

“I bet it’s badass.” Hawk commented.

\---------

Johnny thought about settling in for the evening when he heard someone knocking on his door. He didn’t know who that could be but he opened the door anyway. Daniel stood outside and Johnny blinked at him in surprise.

“I brought your dog back earlier.” Daniel said a little frostily. “I knocked on your door but you weren’t in even though your car was here.”

“My dog?” Johnny didn’t know why he said that.

Daniel scoffed. “Don’t play dumb, I know Cobra is yours. Only you would think of tasking a kid to look after a beast like that.”

“Okay.” Johnny said plainly. “You’re here why?”

LaRusso seemed miffed. “To let you know that I brought your dog back to you, despite him breaking into my home, I might add. Where is he? Can I see him?” He sounded a little hopeful with that last question and he seemed to be trying to look into Johnny’s apartment.

“He’s around here somewhere.” He shrugged disinterestedly. “Now you’re after my dog too, LaRusso? My kid wasn’t enough for you?” Again, he wasn’t sure why he said that either. Maybe it was because Daniel always greeted him with an attitude.

Daniel looked taken aback and then angry. “That’s real nice, Johnny.” He looked like he was about to rip into Johnny but he held it back. “You know you shouldn’t let Cobra run wild around here. He doesn't even have a collar or tags for god's sakes. Besides this place isn’t even built to house pets, do you even have permission for a dog?” He frowned.

“Stop acting like my landlady, Danielle.” Johnny rolled his eyes. “Some of us don’t have mansions. Cobra is fine where he is.”

“I doubt it.” LaRusso shot back fussily.

“I couldn’t give a fuck.” Johnny replied. 

They both glared at each for a long while before Johnny closed the door and Daniel stormed away. That went just as well as it usually did. Johnny sighed, he had actually been having fun with LaRusso earlier as “Cobra”. Why’d he have to go ruin it as usual? Maybe they were destined to never find balance between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the kids shouldn't still be in school or this rain would be out of season but you're living in my fic world so this is how it's gonna be. I'm having fun with this because no one in this show acts normal (except for Amanda and Moon) so I can make them act a little strange.
> 
> I'm not sure when I'm going to update next because I'm swamped with homework right now :(


	4. Chapter 4

It had been several days since Johnny had found himself in Daniel’s bed and then parted unhappily with the man. Something about that last interaction had just left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew he was mostly at fault with how it ended but LaRusso had been so cold to him the moment he opened the door. It was like Daniel looked at Cobra like he was something but looked at Johnny like he was nothing. Despite the teachings of Cobra Kai, Johnny wasn’t the one usually looking for a fight. 

Miguel had asked him about that night. The poor kid had been so worried that Johnny had been inches away from mauling Daniel to death despite him also admitting that LaRusso’s daughter had just casually mentioned the break-in so it probably hadn’t been that big of a fiasco. Johnny had been intentionally vague with him, keeping those intimate details to himself, besides he didn’t even really know why he acted so calm when he wasn’t in control at first. It was messing with his head.

Another thing on his mind was how good it felt to be touched by someone. Was it pathetic that he yearned for some human contact even from his childhood karate rival? Probably. Though it had felt so nice if only for a short while. 

Being Cobra was simpler it seemed. Johnny didn’t know any other werewolves so it was hard to say if any other wolves out there thought it was simpler to be a wolf. 

His head felt so clouded with thoughts that it was nearly unbearable. He had to do something about it because it was really throwing off his game. There was a time when he used to go running as a wolf to let off steam so Johnny decided it was high time to do that again. It was late enough so people wouldn’t be out to see a large blonde wolf running around the streets and possibly call animal control or the police. It’s not like there were many forests to run around where he lived which was a little irksome when seeking cover.

Johnny slipped out of his apartment quietly. The stars were bright in the sky. It always amazed him with how much stronger his senses became when he shifted. He could hear people chatting from blocks away and could smell the dinner that Carmen made hours ago. His senses were still heightened as a human but more so when he unlocked the animal part of himself. He thought about maybe chasing some homeless people around, he used to get a kick out of that, but it didn’t seem fun anymore. Actually, not a lot of things seemed that fun anymore.

There he was ruining his own night again. Johnny shook his head as if to shake the thoughts out. He needed to run, so he ran. He ran and ran until his heart was pounding in his chest. He ran and ran until the pavement began to blur and his tongue fell from his mouth. This was what it felt like to live. The wolf in him knew what it was about it when it ached to run. He started to just let his legs carry him, he didn’t have a set direction in mind, or at least that’s what he thought until he came upon a house. Johnny screeched to a halt so fast that he nearly tumbled over. His legs had brought him to LaRusso’s house. Again.

Johnny stared dumbfounded at it while in the driveway. Even when he wasn’t under the influence of the moon he still found his way there. ‘Dammit, Johnny.’ He swore to himself. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Leave it to LaRusso to creep into his mind at every opportunity. ‘I need to go.’ The werewolf urged himself but this time he didn’t think his legs were completely at fault for his lack of action.

The sound of tires on gravel and the headlights washing over his body made him turn around to watch Daniel’s car pulling up. ‘Run.’ The voice told him in his head. ‘Run. Now!’ but he didn’t move.

\---------

One moment he had been thinking about what to make for dinner when his headlights caught something and he slammed on the brakes. “I don’t believe it…” Daniel murmured as Cobra stood watching him. The dog seemed unnaturally calm for being within hitting distance of a vehicle but seeing as Cobra seemed to roam the streets, it was obvious that the dog either had no sense or no fear. Maybe a combination of the two. It still amazed him how big the dog was. You could definitely see the wolf part in him. The animal looked larger in the dark and his eyes were as bright as they ever were.

He wasn’t sure what to make of these strange visits but he wasn’t complaining. It was easy for him to like animals even a dog that he had been convinced was trying to eat him at their first meeting. Surprisingly Cobra wasn’t all bite like a certain someone he knew… The dog intuitively stepped aside so Daniel could park. Daniel could feel its eyes on him even when he looked away.

\---------

“Here to see me again, boy?” Daniel sounded pleasantly surprised as he got out of the car. 

He had on that winning smile that bugged Johnny to no end. Still, his tail was wagging when he heard the man's voice and the anticipation of pets. Daniel bent down to stroke the werewolf’s head and scratch behind his ears. He even cupped Johnny’s face so he could scratch under Johnny’s neck and chin. Johnny closed his eyes as he enjoyed the niceness of it all. Daniel’s touch was genuine and it made him feel good even if he felt like he was earning this right under false pretenses. Though he doubted LaRusso was special, he was so starved for touch he probably would feel all warm and fuzzy for anyone.

Again, the disappointment sunk in when Daniel stood up and gave him one last pat before going to his door. Johnny followed him like a faithful mutt. He half considered the possibility that LaRusso might shut the door in his face.

Instead, Daniel let him walk in first. “Honey, look who showed up to visit me again!” The man called out to his wife.

Amanda appeared inside and shook her head in disbelief. “Please tell me he came by his own accord and you didn’t kidnap him.” She sounded half-serious even as she was making a joke.

“Haha. Very funny.” Daniel replied sarcastically.

“Just making sure my husband isn’t a dog-napper. You did keep telling me that Johnny was a terrible pet owner after your argument with him the other day. There is a pattern of you fighting with him and then doing something drastic.” Amanda pointed out sagely.

“I can assure you it isn’t what it looks like. No dog-napping is happening here.” Daniel answered earnestly. “Besides the other times were not drastic.” He seemed semi-affronted.

“Right, uh-huh.” His wife nodded like she didn’t believe a word of it. 

It was not hard to like Amanda to be honest. She was hot and she had the balls to deal with a guy like Daniel LaRusso.

“So thoughts on dinner?” Amanda asked as they all made their way over to the kitchen.

“I was thinking about steak.” Daniel was absentmindedly running his hand down Johnny’s back.

“That sounds good.” She agreed. 

Johnny agreed too. He had only eaten hot pockets for dinner (again) and they were half-frozen. Maybe it was in his best interest to learn how to actually cook as he watched Daniel begin the meal prep. He had always thought of it as namby-pamby stuff. What kind of man actually liked cooking and was good at it? When he was growing up, that was sissy shit. But eating good food was better than eating crap. Still, he wouldn’t know where to learn and he didn’t have the money for any fancy cooking supplies or fancy ingredients. If he tried it on his own, he was more likely to burn his entire complex down. Johnny could see his diet was something worth judging but it’s not like he had a husband- err, wife, to cook for him. 

“Do you think this is going to become a regular thing?” His ears picked up that the conversation was about him. He looked between the married couple.

“I don’t know, maybe?” Daniel shrugged as he turned on the stove. “This is the third time his dog has come here. Johnny clearly doesn’t care that his dog is running around all night.” 

“Like-” LaRusso continued as he set the meat out to thaw and put a skillet on the stove. “Why even get a dog if you don’t want to take care of it?”

It felt weird being indirectly insulted right to his face. Johnny maybe would have tuned it out but he wanted to hear all of Daniel’s gripes about him now.

Amanda was looking over at the wolf thoughtfully. “Who says he doesn’t take care of Cobra? He looks well-fed and he isn’t filthy.” She gestured to him. At least someone was in his corner.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “There’s a difference between throwing an animal a bowl of food and water and actually spending time with it. I can tell that Cobra doesn’t get very much attention.” He sounded so sure of himself that Johnny rolled his eyes. He was right but he didn’t need to be such an asshole about it.

Amanda raised her eyebrows. “I’m almost certain you’re reading too much into it but Johnny had Miguel watching him. That means he doesn’t just let him run if he wants someone to look over him.”

Her husband huffed. “It also means that a damn teenager is more responsible than he is. Where is Johnny now? Where was he the other time? Clearly, he doesn’t care that much about his dog. Cobra wasn’t even in his house when I went to tell him I brought his dog back. He said Cobra was ‘around here somewhere’.” Daniel used his fingers to frame the quote theatrically. “Forgive me if I don’t believe Johnny Lawrence gives a shit about this dog, Amanda.”

Amanda frowned at the intenseness in her husband's voice and body language. Johnny wasn’t sure if it was funny or sad with how heated Daniel got about him even when they were apart. “Maybe he’s lonely.” She said after an uneasy silence.

“What?” Daniel asked mid-chop of a potato. 

“Maybe Johnny got Cobra because he’s lonely.” Amanda supplied.

“Lonely?” LaRusso repeated the word like he was unsure of its meaning. His eyebrows knit together and his mouth turned into a frown. Maybe the concept of loneliness or any other emotions didn’t apply to his karate rival in his mind.

“You did say that he doesn’t have any friends that you know of. He isn’t close to Robby or Robby’s mother. He knows Miguel and the other kids at his dojo but they’re still kids. I feel for him.” Daniel made a face when she said this and now it was Amanda’s turn to roll her eyes. “Don’t give me that look, Daniel. It would be lonely living like that. He probably got Cobra to feel a connection to someone.”

Johnny drooped, putting his head between his paws. She had hit the nail on the head with those observations. He didn’t even really have Cobra so he was completely alone. Even when he tried to escape it, it was just thrown back in his face like now.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something but then snapped it closed and glanced over at Johnny. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You may be right.” He said a little softer than Johnny had expected.

His wife raised her eyebrows. “I know how hard it is for you to think clearly about your childhood karate rival but it’s just a little bit plausible that he has normal feelings like the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I know that…” Daniel sounded unsure. “It’s just hard… You don’t see a guy for thirty plus years and then bam, it feels like nothing ever changed between us. I don’t know, even when we get along it ends badly. It’s hard to see him as someone other than the guy who made my last year of high school hell.”

Johnny felt like the weight of the world was crashing down upon him. Sure, he suspected that’s what Daniel thought of him and Daniel had indicated that to him through speech and body language but hearing it right from Daniel’s mouth hurt. What happened to when Daniel said the past was in the past when he saw Johnny in his dealership after all that time? Johnny didn’t think he disliked Daniel nearly as much as Daniel appeared to dislike him. Otherwise, what was he doing there? And why wasn’t he mauling LaRusso on those full moons?

“I know but he’s only human like we are.” Amanda said gently. “I won’t ever be able to understand your history properly but I think it would be good for you or each other to try to think through each other's perspectives. It won’t solve everything but are you really sure he’s the same bully from thirty years ago? Maybe you’re just seeing what you want to see.” She was starting to sound like one of those counselors that Johnny saw on television from time to time.

“Huh.” LaRusso seemed to consider it. “What does this have to do with whether or not Johnny Lawrence is a bad pet owner?” He segwayed off as he checked the steak. Someone wasn’t feeling open about their emotions just then.

“Just think about what I said.” Amanda held her ground and then she noticed Johnny. “Look, you made the dog depressed.” She said sympathetically and this time she was the one to pet him.

As nice as some human contact felt after that heavy shit, it just didn’t hit Johnny in the same way. It felt nice but it wasn’t doing anything special for him. Weird.

“Aww, don’t worry no one was saying anything bad about you.” Daniel cooed, crouching down so he could pet the werewolf too. ‘But you were.’ The wolf thought unhappily. He almost revoked Daniel’s petting privileges but Daniel was too quick.

His body tingled in a good way when Daniel ran his hands over his fur. He didn’t even feel Amanda’s hands on him anymore, just Daniel’s. He looked into Daniel’s big brown eyes and his heartbeat quickened. What was happening to him? Why was he feeling so strange?

“Well, he certainly seems to like you.” Amanda sounded amused. “He perked up instantly.”

“I’m his favorite obviously.” Daniel grinned, looking pleased with himself.

‘Oh no. Favorite? You’re not my favorite.’ Johnny thought anxiously but another thought nagged at him. ‘But… what if he was?’

“The kinship between a man and the dog of his karate rival.” Amanda smirked. “I think you could make a movie out of that or at least a sitcom.”

“You just can’t help yourself tonight, can you?” Daniel laughed and then got up to check how the steak was cooking.

“Sorry, I might have been drinking some wine before you got home.” Amanda shrugged apologetically.

“Food’s ready if you can get the kids.” Her husband declared. “Just one final touch…” Johnny’s eyes followed him as he set a smaller piece of meat on a plate and he got to his paws excitedly. The steak smelled so good and his mouth was watering. He wagged his tail happily when Daniel did in fact lay the dish down at his feet. He even made it look all fancy and included the sides. “I couldn’t resist.” He looked at Amanda sheepishly.

“You really are too much.” She laughed at him and then went to find their children.

The wolf in him wasn’t much for eating in moderation. He made short work of all of it and it was restaurant quality stuff. Johnny put on his best puppy dog eyes to bully Daniel into giving him more.

“Wow.” Daniel blinked in amazement. “Did you even taste that?” 

\---------

The family dinner went down without a hitch. There wasn’t much for Johnny to focus on. He was the center of attention for a little bit before they started talking about school and other things. He did learn Daniel’s son’s name (Anthony). He seated himself by Daniel and occasionally he got slipped some scraps.

After dinner didn’t have much excitement happening either but he still followed Daniel around. It wasn’t before long that the man said he was going to bed and his wife agreed. Johnny followed them, he could pull off sleeping in LaRusso’s bedroom, it wasn’t like on the full moon, when he shifted by himself and not under the moon's influence, he wouldn’t change back into a man. 

“Wait.” Amanda paused before they entered the room. “As much as I like your new best friend, I’m not comfortable with him sleeping in the bedroom with us.” 

“Oh.” Daniel seemed like he hadn’t considered that possibility. “Well, okay, goodnight, Cobra. Catch you in the morning.” He gave Johnny one last final pat before he closed the door in his face.

Johnny hadn’t been expecting that turn of events and stared at the door. He paced listlessly outside for a bit. This really illustrated the fact that he was an outsider there. It was not a good feeling and he knew it was best for him to leave but he didn’t know how to. Was he supposed to change and unlock the door himself? That would be risky. His sharp ears picked up on someone walking and he raced to find that it was Sam. Gently, he took the bottom of her t-shirt in his teeth and pulled her along.

“Hey! What’re you doing?” The teenager was apprehensive but he managed to get her to the front door anyways. There he stood in front of the door and pawed at it, a whine escaping his lips.

“Oh. You want me to let you out?”

He looked at her and let out a little woof of affirmation and then went back at it.

“Well, okay…” Sam unlocked the door for him and pulled it open. “Here you go, Cobra.”

Johnny thought she’d infer that he wasn’t coming back with how quickly he raced out of the door and into the darkness. The feelings he felt were nice while they lasted but now they were gone.

\---------

Remember when he thought those feelings were gone? Yeah, maybe he had jumped the gun on that a little. 

Turns out those feelings were not gone. Johnny went to LaRusso’s house again the next night and then the next night after that. Johnny wasn’t especially smart but he wasn’t stupid all the time. When Daniel gave him affection and touched him, he had that feeling that came from having your crush accidentally bump into you or say your name for the first time. That’s how he had felt with Ali and now he was feeling that way about Daniel LaRusso. He hadn’t been able to mark it down at first because it had been a long time since he felt that way but it was unmistakable. It was some kind of puppy love bullshit.

Just what he needed was to catch feelings for his karate rival. Not only would Daniel not reciprocate those feelings, but he also had no idea about them either. Somehow the whole situation seemed very fitting to Johnny’s pitiful life thus far. You bully a kid in high school and are punished for it your whole life. It just wasn’t fair.

\----------

Johnny was distracted and his students had to notice it but luckily no one said anything. Though he steeled himself for an interrogation when Miguel asked to talk privately in his office before class began.

‘Be cool.’ He willed himself. “What is it?” He hoped he sounded relaxed and not tense.

“Well, uh-” Miguel was fidgeting and he scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Some of the other students have been asking to see Cobra.” The teenager admitted sheepishly.

“What?! What happened to keeping things a secret between us, Diaz?” Johnny hissed as he tried to keep from shouting.

“Woah! I didn’t say anything to anyone about you, I swear, Sensei!” The teen insisted quickly. “It was Sam. She mentioned you were at her house in front of Hawk and Aisha and they told the others.”

“Goddamn LaRusso’s…” He muttered and shook his head. “How bad is it?”

“They really want to see Cobra since he’s supposed to be a badass and all.” Miguel told him. “I think someone’s gonna ask you about it soon.”

Johnny sighed. He would probably do the same thing. “C’mon, let’s go out and do damage control. I thought of something.”

Miguel followed him out and then got in line with the others.

“So-” Johnny looked them all up and down as he paced back and forth. “I heard you punks have been asking about my dog Cobra. I don’t show him off to just anyone and you guys haven’t shown you’re worthy of that right yet. Unless I see some real improvement around here, he’s off-limits. I’m giving you one month, starting tomorrow, to earn that right. Everyone gets here on time, everyone gives it their all without slacking and no bitching when things get tough. You got that?” 

“Yes, Sensei!” The crowd echoed.

“Diaz, you’re in charge of making sure things stay honest.” He directed. 

“You can count on me, Sensei.” Miguel smiled.

Now Johnny was almost certain that a couple of students would drag the others down so he wasn’t worried about having to fulfill his end of the bargain. One problem was handled, now he had to face the real issue at hand. And that was keeping his feelings in check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is November flying by for anyone else? I really did not mean to take so long.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! This chapter is a beach day one so it's silly. :)

“It’s been a month, Sensei…” Miguel trailed off.

“And?” Johnny already didn’t like where this was going.

“I’ve been making sure things stayed honest like you told me too and well, no one slacked off, Sensei and I’m pretty sure we’ve made some real improvement.” The teenager beamed.

Johnny groaned and put his face in his hands. “Seriously, Diaz? Not one of them slacked off? Even Stingray?” He couldn’t believe it. He was royally screwed.

“I think Hawk made it clear to Stingray and everyone else that if they messed up, there would be hell to pay.” Miguel shrugged. “I don’t really agree with how he did that but it worked.”

“Damn kid is too good…” He sighed. “Can’t you throw someone under the bus?”

Miguel frowned at him. “That wouldn’t be very fair, Sensei. It would be cheating and I thought you didn’t want Cobra Kai to have cheaters in it anymore?”

Johnny stared at him in bewilderment. “Okay, okay, wiseass, I’m keeping it honest.” He rolled his eyes, sometimes these teens were really too much. Then again, he didn’t really have anyone else in his life to call him out on his bullshit. Luckily, Miguel still hadn’t commented on the LaRusso situation and why Johnny didn’t seem to need his help anymore at a full moon.

“Let’s go, I’ll break the news to them,” Johnny muttered and then he waited for everyone to fall in line for him. “Listen up, punks! I don’t believe it but you actually managed to keep up your end of the bargain. So this Saturday you can meet my dog, Cobra.” He paused to gauge his students' reactions and was a little amused to see them whispering “yes!” and Hawk fist-bumping Miguel and Aisha. “One exception, I won’t be there. I have to take care of some things but Diaz knows Cobra so he’ll be in charge of introducing him to everyone.” He locked eyes with Miguel who nodded. “I expect everyone to treat my dog with respect, he’s not one of those girly poodles or shitty little chihuahuas. He’s a real man’s dog so treat him as such, understand?”

He could have sworn that he caught Diaz muttering “oh my god” and looking a little embarrassed but everyone else let out an enthusiastic “Yes, Sensei!”

\---------

“Hey, Sensei!” Miguel caught him on the way out of the dojo.

‘Oh god, what now?’ He had to stop himself from groaning. “What is it?”

“Since I have to introduce Cobra, do you have another leash?”

“Another leash?” Johnny squinted at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, uh, I can’t bring Cobra out to everyone on that chain.” Miguel told him.

“Why not?” He didn’t see an issue with it.

Now it was his students' turn to squint at him. “Seriously, Sensei? That’s an actual chain chain. It’s not even a pinch collar or something. It would just look weird to bring out your dog on a huge chain with a metal collar. It makes you- him- whatever, this is kind of confusing, but it makes Cobra look dangerous.”

“Yeah, and it’s badass.” Johnny shrugged and Miguel looked at him in exasperation. “Okay, I see what you’re saying, Diaz. I don’t have a normal leash or anything.”

“Then I can help you pick one out now.” Miguel offered helpfully.

“Yeah, okay.” He agreed. “Where do you find those? At a hardware store? Gas station?”

Miguel blinked at him. “You’ve never been to a pet store, Sensei? Like Petco? Petsmart?” He seemed at a loss.

“No. Why would I go to one of those?” Johnny defended as he got in his car.

“Didn’t Robby have a pet growing up? A fish or something?” Miguel questioned as he strapped in.

Johnny snorted. “As if. Shannon hates animals and it would interfere too much with her lifestyle.” He put the last word in exaggerated quotations. “And I never really thought much about pets. I’m pretty sure I could kill a plastic plant. What about you, Diaz, any pets?”

Miguel shook his head. “Couldn’t afford one. It is fun to go to pet stores and look at the animals though. Sometimes you can pet the animals or people have friendly dogs.”

“Can’t you just go to a zoo for that?” Johnny commented.

“Zoos aren’t free, Sensei.”

“Good point.” He acknowledged. “Show me to one of these pet stores then.”

They ended up at Petsmart and Johnny found it weird that the store allowed people to bring their dogs in but it also seemed like they did grooming and training so he supposed it made sense. The store was huge and filled with tons of shit. People really made this big of a fuss about their pets, huh? He didn’t really get it. Maybe if he had an actual dog he would get it more but he didn’t have a dog so it was odd to him. 

“I’ll pick something out. You can look around.” Miguel told him and then he disappeared behind the countless rows of dog toys.

He didn’t even get to bark out “get something cheap” because the teenager disappeared so fast. There was nothing left for him to do but wander. Johnny did check out the reptiles, there was a cool snake and on the other side, they were selling a bunch of bugs that gave him the creeps. “Who the fuck would want these?” He muttered in disbelief as he looked at some particularly big cockroaches. “I could sell the ones I see at my place to this store.” He ducked behind another aisle when he saw an employee approaching. 

Johnny was pretending to be enthralled by the fifty types of cat food in the aisle although some of it did sound better than the stuff he put in his stomach on a daily basis when he looked up and caught the eyes of someone. ‘No fucking way.’ Was his immediate thought as he and Daniel stared at each other in stunned silence. Everywhere he turned, LaRusso was there. He did notice that the other man carefully hid something behind his back.

“Johnny, what are you doing here?” LaRusso rushed right past the pleasantries and onto the questions.

“I have a pet and this is a pet store.” Johnny replied smartly. “What are you doing here? Did you finally get a dog?”  
“No, but I feel like I basically share ownership of Cobra at this point.” LaRusso snorted.

Johnny prickled a little at the “ownership” comment. No one owned Johnny but himself. “Damn dog has a mind of his own.” 

“I’ll say.” LaRusso seemed like he was relaxing a little. “Can I ask why you got Cobra?”

‘Oh god, here it comes.’ Johnny steeled himself. No doubt LaRusso was winding up to lecture Johnny on being a bad pet owner. Though he had heard what Daniel and Amanda talked about so he had the upper hand on feeding Daniel just what he wanted to hear. “Cobra showed up at my apartment one night.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he had been bitten at night. “I thought he was a wolf and I tried to chase him away at first but he kept coming back. I just decided to keep him since he seemed determined to stick around and honestly? It gets lonely being by myself all the time.” He paused to gauge Daniel’s reaction and LaRusso did look a little ashamed at the last part of Johnny’s sentence. Even if he was just saying back what he had heard, he was actually lonely. “The dog is stubborn as hell though and does whatever the fuck he wants.”

Daniel laughed a little. “Reminds me of a certain someone I know.”

Johnny was too old to be blushing like a little virgin but he felt hot all over suddenly. Fucking hell.

The other man didn’t seem to notice (luckily). “Since I see so much of your dog and not you, would you like to come to dinner sometime? You can bring Cobra over.” Daniel offered goodnaturedly.

Now Johnny really felt warm. Was he having a stroke or did LaRusso seriously just ask him to come over? This offer would have been great if not for one big hitch, Cobra and Johnny being one. He was probably taking too long to answer. “Sounds good, LaRusso.” He agreed stiffly like he was answering under great duress. If Johnny could have just sunk into the floor, he would have. 

“Great!” Daniel was overly enthusiastic. “I’ll let you know when’s a good time and we can coordinate.”

Johnny did know that his karate rival was a fiend in the kitchen so he was probably looking forward to dazzling or embarrassing Johnny with his culinary arts. Johnny forced a halfhearted smile on his face and attempted to say something else but Miguel interrupted him by popping up behind him.

“There you are, Sensei!” Miguel sounded a little out of breath like he had been searching the whole store for Johnny. “I found a good leash and collar, hopefully, it fits.” He showed Johnny a red collar and a black leash. Then his eyes fell on Daniel. “Oh! Hi, Mr. LaRusso.” He said politely, looking a little warily between the two men.

“Hi, Miguel.” Daniel smiled. “Well, I’ll let you two get back to it. I’ll call you, Johnny.” He waved at both of them and then went away.

“Call you?” His student wondered innocently.

“I got invited to dinner.” Johnny replied feeling like he was in a trance.

“That’s great!” Miguel was excited until he looked at Johnny’s face. “Or not.” He corrected. “Why isn’t it great?”

“He wants me to bring Cobra.” 

“Oh, shit.” Miguel gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out, Sensei.”

“I can always go into hiding.” Johnny sighed glumly as they made their way over to the checkout. He didn’t even bother hiding his disappointment from Miguel. Besides the teen had already assumed he would be excited to go over to LaRusso’s so clearly Miguel suspected more than he was letting on. Why did his life have to be so damn difficult?

\--------

Saturday came rolling around. 

“What’s the plan, Diaz?” Johnny asked and he hoped his kids wouldn’t make this painful for him.

“Everyone decided on going to the beach, so we’ll be going there.” Miguel supplied.

“How are you getting there?” He knew Miguel didn’t drive and he didn’t have a car. “Is your girlfriend picking you up?”

“Sam? No, she’s doing something with her dad today.” The teenager looked and sounded disappointed. Ah, young love. “Moon, Hawk’s girlfriend is picking us up. In fact-” Miguel checked his phone. “She should be here soon, shouldn’t you be getting ready? Like wolfing out?”

“Wait outside, I’ll leave the door a crack and I’ll come out when I’m ready, got it?” Johnny used his serious Sensei voice on Miguel. As if he wanted Miguel or any other teenager to come barging in while he was undressed. 

Miguel nodded quickly and put his back to the door while Johnny ducked inside.

Sometimes he really wished that his clothes turned into fur too, that would make things easier. Another thing that would make things easier was if he wasn’t a werewolf but unfortunately he wasn’t so lucky in that department. If he could get his hands on the sicko who turned him… There would be hell to pay truly. What kind of guy just bit and then dashed? It left Johnny feeling like the victim of an unsatisfactory one night stand (and he had a lot of those). Now he was stuck in a situation where everyone around him knew that he had a dog and liked that dog while not realizing he was the dog. At this point, he was almost considering moving to another state. He didn’t think he could ever live it down if someone besides Miguel knew he was about to go entertain some kids just to keep up appearances. The shift was quick and he nosed open the door and stood expectantly in front of Miguel.

Miguel crouched down by his face and gave him a sympathetic look. “Sorry about this, Sensei.” He apologized as he slid the dog collar around Johnny’s neck and attached the leash. “I hope it fits okay.”

The collar was a little tight but it was meant for a dog and not a werewolf. Hopefully, it would stretch out throughout the day. He gave a disgruntled huff and started forward in the direction that he assumed this girl was meeting Miguel.

When they got to the parking lot, someone honked at them and Johnny looked to see a girl with brown hair waving to them through her car. She did look familiar but obviously, he didn’t know her that well. Miguel approached the car with Johnny and opened the passenger side door and Johnny barely placed his paws on the seat before the collar around his neck tightened and he was pulled down by the leash. A little snarl came out from his lips before he could help himself and Miguel mouthed a worried “Sorry!”.

“Where do you want Cobra? The backseat? The trunk?” Miguel asked Moon awkwardly.

‘The trunk?’ Johnny thought angrily. He was really regretting having agreed to this at all.

“The backseat is fine.” Moon smiled as she peered over at Johnny. “He’s a lot bigger than I was expecting. What breed is he again?”

Miguel ushered Johnny into the backseat. “Just a mutt, with a lot of wolf mixed in, that’s what Sensei Lawrence told me. Looks more wolf than dog though, right?” He joked.

“Mhmm,” Moon nodded as she took the car out of park and got on the road. “It’s great of Mr. Lawrence to adopt Cobra. Adopt don’t shop is a great motto to follow.”

Johnny raised his eyebrows. He was definitely going to be tuning this conversation out.

\----------

The beach was crowded as usual but the Cobra Kai kids had managed to secure a good spot. He had to wonder as he pulled Miguel across the beach if some of that space wasn’t taken by intimidation. They had a bunch of towels spread out, chairs, coolers and they had also put up a volleyball net. Johnny kind of wanted to sit on one of those towels, the hot sand was killer under his feet and he definitely felt a kinship with the dogs he had seen on the beach forced to walk on the sand due to their dumb owners. 

“It’s Miguel!” Aisha called out and she had just been fooling around with her girlfriend, Tory. 

“Here we go…” Miguel muttered under his breath as everyone swarmed him and Johnny.

Okay, so maybe the compliments and the awe wasn’t so bad. Everyone was enthralled by his “dog” and how badass he looked. A lot of pictures were taken of him and no doubt posted to internet sites with the hashbrown Cobra Kai. The bad part was that they put their hands on him. Maybe he should have told Miguel that Cobra wasn’t good with strangers touching him. The only person he wanted petting him was LaRusso. Even just thinking that thought made him feel all awkward. It didn’t matter that he already knew he was crushing on his karate rival, it was the unrequited part that bothered him most of all. It was nice that Daniel had invited him to dinner so they could start being more friendly but he knew from experience that it would still hurt a little.

“This is a mean-looking dog.” Tory smiled as she scratched behind Johnny’s ears. She wasn’t afraid to get right in his face. “Imagine if Miyagi-Do got a dog, I bet it would be one of those purebred things grandmas have.” The teenager laughed and the others joined her.

“No, I bet it would be something Japanese like a Shiba Inu.” Hawk snorted. Johnny didn’t know what that dog breed was but he agreed.

“Oh, right, Daniel LaRacist.” Tory snickered.

“Hey, now,” Miguel interjected. “I’m dating a LaRusso, remember?”

“You’re not dating Sam’s dad.” Aisha grinned.

“I don’t know, Miss Prim and Proper is pretty close.” Her girlfriend pointed out.

“Does he know any tricks?” Curtis wondered.

“I bet Sensei has taught him a shit ton of moves.” Stingray said excitedly and Johnny had almost hoped he wouldn’t show.

“Let’s just test some simple ones right now, okay?” Miguel said quickly. “Cobra, sit.” He commanded so Johnny sat with a roll of his eyes. “Shake.” Johnny offered Miguel his paw. He knew this was going to get repetitive real fast but the kids seemed happy so he was happy.

When Johnny was in the middle of demonstrating that he could tell different bottles of pop from each other, he and Miguel froze when they both heard a voice.

“Miguel!” That was Sam’s voice and there was no mistaking it as she came down the beach waving at her boyfriend and Johnny’s eyes widened to see her dad behind her.

“Sam?” Miguel was confused but then he was happy as he went to meet her.

Johnny watched LaRusso take in the fact that the whole Cobra Kai dojo appeared to be there and his daughter was calling out to her boyfriend. 

“Sam, this is why you wanted to come here and not the beach club?” Daniel sounded a bit peeved as he had been tricked and he looked helplessly at the mob of teenagers eyeing him up.

Sam turned back around with a guilty look on her face. “Sorry, dad. I know you were looking forward to today but then Miguel told me he was coming here with Cobra. I thought you would like seeing Cobra though.” 

Daniel sighed, it was evident that he found it hard to stay mad at his daughter for long. “It’s fine. Is Johnny here?” He looked at Miguel and Johnny was a little irked to hear that Daniel didn’t sound very enthusiastic about the chance of running into Johnny on the beach. Then again, the beach was where they first met and it hadn’t turned out well for Daniel then. 

“Nope, just Cobra.” Miguel answered.

“I should’ve guessed.” Daniel laughed a little derisively. “He’s always suspiciously absent when Cobra is around.”

“Maybe he is Cobra.” Aisha blurted out. “It would make sense as to why they’re never seen in the same place.”

Johnny and Miguel visibly tensed. 

Sam laughed. “That’s a good theory, Aisha.”

“Yeah, good one.” Miguel chuckled awkwardly but he shot Johnny a look.

“I’ll set things up, you go with your friends.” LaRusso told his daughter.

“Sorry again, dad.” Sam said but she didn’t sound very sorry and she immediately gave Miguel a peck on the cheek.

Johnny was aware that he was being watched by his kids as he ducked around them and ran over to LaRusso. He didn’t mean to but he nearly knocked Daniel down onto the sand in excitement as he jumped at him. 

“Woah, down boy!” Daniel laughed as Johnny continued to jump up excitedly, his tail wagging a mile a minute. “Way to sell out to Miyagi-Do.” He joked.

Even though he was supposed to be spending time with the Cobra Kai kids, he preferred to be spending time with LaRusso. So he was basically hovering as LaRusso set up his space. He still felt a little like a peeping tom as the other man pulled off his shirt even though it was a public beach. Daniel spotted that the kid’s volleyball had rolled over to his side even though no one had started playing it yet. Johnny watched as he picked it up but then decided to juggle it on his knee which really took Johnny back to when they first met. He wondered if things would have gone differently if he had just ignored LaRusso but what kind of teen back then would ignore some other kid trying to make the moves on his (ex) girlfriend? He did feel bad though, he was a troubled kid back then and LaRusso didn’t deserve all of that. LaRusso got distracted by Sam calling him and the ball went through the air and just for fun, Johnny used his snout to bounce the ball back at him. Daniel seemed surprised as he caught the ball.

“Hey, do that again!” Hawk called out to them and Johnny noticed everyone was on standby.

Daniel complied and Johnny bounced the ball right back again. 

“Give me the ball, I want to try something.” The mohawked teen motioned for LaRusso to give it to him. “C’mere, Cobra.” He whistled as soon as he got the ball. Hawk stood behind the volleyball net and held out a hand to indicate to Johnny to stay on the other side. Then he spiked the ball as hard as he could and Johnny jumped up to send it right back. He had enhanced reflexes as a werewolf and he already had good reflexes from karate so it wasn’t too difficult to launch the ball right off his head and back at Hawk.

“Yes!” Hawk whooped. “We are so playing right now. Cobra is on my team.”

The teams were split off like so: Team Hawk which consisted of Hawk, Johnny, Miguel, Sam, Bert, and some other random kid vs. Team Tory which consisted of Tory, Aisha, Moon, Stingray, Curtis, and some other random kid. Johnny wasn’t the best at keeping track of everyone’s names. LaRusso watched from the sidelines with amusement and cheered for both teams when they got in good hits.

As expected Tory and Hawk were super competitive at the game and Johnny almost felt that some of the shit-talking was verging on a fight. At least he got to show that not only was he badass, he was also badass enough to understand the rules of volleyball. He used to play a little volleyball back in the day, in fact, he had tried out a lot of sports with the other Cobras. The ball sailed over to his side of the net and as he jumped up to deliver a trick shot back, he accidentally knocked Miguel down. At least he scored a point though and he gave Miguel an affectionate headbutt to show he was sorry. Even though he had been dreading today, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t having fun. So far his team was taking the lead and he felt super vindicated whenever LaRusso cheered for him.

Then he heard something up the beach that bothered him. His blue eyes searched the sand and his ears tried to find the direction the disturbance was coming from. Everyone else was too focused on the game but he was distracted. After what seemed like forever, his eyes and ears locked on the location and rage flooded through his body. His son, Robby, was coming down the beach but he was being harassed by three guys. Johnny had seen two of them before when he went to see Robby to confront him about school but the third guy wasn’t familiar. Robby looked agitated and he seemed to be trying to get around them but two of them blocked his path and the largest one stood behind Robby. Johnny didn’t even think, he just charged forward with a growl.

“I don’t want any trouble, Trey.” Robby said just before Trey pushed him down onto the sand.

“You should've thought of that before you showed your face here.” Trey said threateningly. “I don’t see that old man around to help you now.”

Johnny knew he couldn’t actually bite any of them since that was how the curse was passed and the last thing he wanted was those three jerks as werewolves but he wanted to hurt them. He lunged and locked his jaws around Trey’s arm (it was covered by a sleeve) and bit down hard enough to bruise as he pulled the hooligan down roughly onto the sand in front of Robby. Trey cried out and before his other friend, the one with that terrible mustache, could react, Johnny had pounced on him and bashed him onto the ground too. He hoped he had hit hard enough to bruise as the guy groaned. Then he came at the other asshole there and rammed him in the stomach with his head and when the guy fell back, he latched onto one of his arms also and gave it a hard wrench. He was so mad he almost considered jerking them around like a dog with a chew toy but he didn’t get that far as someone hooked their hands around his collar and pulled him back from snapping in the biggest guy's face.

“Cobra, stop!” Daniel commanded worriedly as he held Johnny firm. Robby’s aggressors saw their chance to limp off as Johnny was contained, still, he strained a little against Daniel’s hold just to show how pissed off he was. If he really wanted to he could easily break free. He let his growl fade off steadily as the backs of the punks disappeared from view. Then he looked over at Robby who sat there stunned on the ground. Even Miguel had shown up and he stood there awkwardly with the leash.

“Robby, are you okay?” From LaRusso’s tone, Johnny could tell that he really cared about Robby. He wished he was himself so he could ask Robby that question.

Robby stood up, ignoring the hand that Miguel offered, and dusted himself off. “Yeah, I’m good.” He studied Johnny a little warily. “Is that your dog, Mr. LaRusso?”

“My dog? No, Cobra is your dad’s dog. I thought I mentioned him to you?” Daniel said.

“Oh, right.” Johnny’s son replied distractedly. 

“Seems funny that you don’t know him. He seems to know you.” Daniel pointed out.

“Yeah, seems so.” Robby agreed. “Is he friendly?”

Johnny tried at that moment to look as docile as possible.

“He’s very friendly!” Miguel inserted himself in the conversation. “Cobra is just very, er, unique.”

“Just watch-” Daniel let go of Johnny’s collar and then started ruffling his fur. “He loves attention.” He emphasized that fact by scratching under the werewolf’s chin.

‘Yeah, I love your attention.’ Johnny thought to himself as he thumped his tail happily.

That seemed to sell it for Robby seeing as his dad’s dog wasn’t biting his karate rival’s face off and he patted Johnny’s head lightly. It felt good to see his son smile.

“Dad, is everything okay?” Sam and the others had finally decided to come over.

“Everything’s fine, honey.” Daniel replied gently and then he looked a little guilty. “I forgot to mention I invited Robby here too…” He seemed to be bracing himself for trouble as the Cobra Kai kids stared at Robby.

Johnny was going to be so ticked if they chased off his kid. He shot Miguel a look that he hoped spelled out ‘No fucking fighting’ and Miguel had already made an effort to be nice to Robby but he was worried about Hawk and the others.

“Hey, I never got to say this but I’m sorry about what happened at the tournament.” Miguel said apologetically as he scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet. “I’m hoping we can start over though.” He offered hopefully.

Robby and Daniel seemed surprised by the gesture and Robby glanced at Sam who gave him a smile. “Uh yeah, that’s cool with me.” Robby said. “Thanks.”

“Hawk?” Miguel looked over at his friend. Hawk was silent and was glaring a little at Robby. “Dude, c’mon.” Miguel hissed at the other teen urgently.

“...Fine.” Hawk huffed and rolled his shoulders. “I can be cool.” He still looked at Robby a little too intensely for Johnny’s comfort.

Robby raised an eyebrow but relented. “If you can be cool, I can be cool.”

Johnny and Daniel both let out a sigh of relief.

“Anyone else starving?” Tory questioned, breaking up the tension. “I’m breaking out the food. Who’s with me?”

Everyone else agreed to that plan and Johnny raised over to Daniel’s spot and immediately stuck his nose in the picnic basket. He hoped Daniel made something good and it wasn’t something weird like sushi.

“Hey, get out of there, you vulture.” LaRusso laughed and pushed the werewolf away.

LaRusso made some fancy cheese sandwiches that were pretty good. Johnny got half of Daniel’s sandwich because he was quick. Much to Robby’s and Sam’s amusement, he only went after Daniel’s food. Daniel was mortified that Johnny managed to snatch one of the brownies and he started to panic, saying some bullshit that dogs weren’t supposed to eat chocolate and Johnny could be poisoned. Johnny had no idea where he was getting that from but Sam and Robby seemed concerned too until Sam looked it up and told her dad that since Johnny was such a big dog, the small amount of chocolate he ate wouldn’t hurt him. LaRusso calmed down after that and carefully guarded the rest of the dessert.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Robby took Johnny’s place on the volleyball team and even worked great with Hawk. Johnny went for a swim and then shook water all over LaRusso as he tried to read a book. Tory put seaweed down Sam’s bathing suit and everyone about died laughing even Sam after she got over the initial shock. Daniel played frisbee with Johnny but Johnny didn’t always let him have the frisbee back. He spent a lot of time goofing off with the Cobra Kai kids and he wondered if he should do something like it at the dojo.

Once again, it was bittersweet leaving LaRusso’s company but they had basically spent the whole day together so it wasn’t that bad. Johnny was for sure going to let Miguel know that he actually had a lot of fun with everyone. Though all he wanted to do currently was pass out and not think about how he was going to solve the new dilemma presented to him by LaRusso. That was a problem for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got so many fic ideas floating around in my head that it's been hard to keep focused but in that time I've decided to add more to this fic. It won't be that much longer but I think the extra stuff will help out the story a little. I'm definitely making it my goal to finish this fic before season 3 drops so bear with me! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Daniel bond in this chapter.

It was the day of the dinner invitation. LaRusso had said to come at six. Johnny couldn’t tell if that was late or early, then again he didn’t exactly keep to a pristine schedule. Sometimes he found himself skipping a meal or eating dinner at nearly 12 am. The only time he really ate well was when he was hanging around at LaRusso’s. Thank god the man didn’t try to give him dog food or something (an oversight on LaRusso’s part). Now he was about to call LaRusso and lie right to his face, not like that was new or anything. He sighed as his stomach twisted with nerves and he hit the call button.

“Hey, Johnny!” Of course, LaRusso had to pick up right away and be so chirpy. “Are you on your way with Cobra?”

“No.” 

There was a short confused pause on LaRusso’s end. “No?” He repeated. “No as in you aren’t coming or you don’t want to come?” The disappointment in the other man’s voice surprised him.

Johnny knew he had to correct this situation. “Shit, sorry, what I meant was I have to look for Cobra. I tried to get him in the car but he chewed through the leash and ran away.”

Another pause, Daniel was processing the information. “Are you sure he’s just not running here himself?”

“I don’t know.” Johnny lied. “It didn’t seem like it to me. I said where we were going to him. I figured he understood, or as much as a dog can understand. Maybe he got pissy that I had him on a leash.”

“Huh, yeah that’s weird.” His karate rival agreed.

“Yeah, well, maybe some other time?” Johnny said awkwardly. “I think I should look for him.”

“Hang on, we’ve still got time.” LaRusso pointed out. “Stay where you are, I’ll come help you look.”

This time it was his turn to pause. He hadn’t been expecting that. “Uh, it’s fine, I wouldn’t wa-”

“End of discussion. I’m coming over, Johnny. Wait for me.” LaRusso put his foot down and hung up abruptly.

Johnny looked at his phone and groaned. The man was determined, he had to give him that. He had to make his story seem true so it only made sense for him to actually have to chew the leash. It was a little annoying that now he had to destroy his own property but that’s the price he had to pay for lying. It was useful that on command he could make his teeth sharper without having to go through the pain of transforming and his bite was a lot stronger than a normal human's. But then again, it wasn’t really that useful, he couldn’t exactly use that skill for much and sometimes his fangs came out when he was angry and it would be troublesome if anyone pointed them out. Sighing, he took the lead between his teeth and gave it a good pull; the material shredded easily enough and he tossed away the part of the leash with the clip. All that was left to do was stand by his car and act like he was itching to go search for his dog.

“About time.” He called out to LaRusso when the man finally arrived. “Cobra could be halfway across the state by now.”

“Keep your pants on.” LaRusso quipped. “I doubt he’s gotten that far.”

Johnny snorted and crossed his arms. “Do you know my dog at all, LaRusso? He likes to run.”

“I think I know him pretty well. It’s like we both have shared custody of him.” Daniel chuckled. “Maybe he’s just hiding. Where did he go?”

“That way.” Johnny pointed in some general direction. “Here’s the leash if you don’t believe he got away.” He tossed the shredded object to the other.

Daniel whistled in awe. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clean bite from a dog before. He definitely wasn’t feeling that leash.”

“Yeah, and I don’t exactly have another leash.” Johnny faked being annoyed.

“I was hoping you got rid of those chains Miguel wrangled Cobra with the first time he was over at my house but you should have a spare.” Daniel pointed out sagely.

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Do I look rich to you, LaRusso?”

Daniel made a face. “They’re like what, five dollars? Ten at the most.”

“Exactly. That’s way too much for some shitty rope that a dog can get through with one bite.”

“Oh my god, you’re so cheap.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “How do you even stand to get Cobra his shots?”

“Shots?” Johnny asked.

Daniel’s face fell. “Cobra doesn’t have all of his shots?”

Johnny couldn’t help himself and he laughed. “Jesus Christ, don’t have a heart attack. I’m only jerking your chain, he has his shots. I’m not that shit of a pet owner.”

“Ugh, you’re such an asshole.” His karate rival shook his head with disapproval. 

“Are we going to actually look for my dog or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, we can take my car and you can point out spots you think he might’ve gone to.” LaRusso laid down the plan. “Let’s get to it.” He opened up his car and motioned for Johnny to get inside.

Johnny shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t believe he was about to lead Daniel LaRusso on a wild goose chase for his “missing” dog. When he got in the car, the brunette tossed something in his lap. “What’s this?” He asked but then realized it was a dog leash.

“We can use my leash when we find Cobra.” Daniel sounded so sure that they would find Cobra.

“Your leash? Is that what you hid behind your back when I saw you at the pet store?” Johnny looked at Daniel and raised his eyebrows. 

Daniel looked a little sheepish. “You saw that? Funny how we were both shopping for the same thing.”

Johnny nodded in agreement. “And at the same time too.”

“First we don’t see each other since high school and now I feel like I can’t go two feet without running into you.” LaRusso laughed a little.

Johnny’s chest tightened. ‘Was that a bad thing?’ He thought. ‘Is that how Daniel felt?’ “Yeah, funny how things work out.” He forced himself to laugh along. “Hold on- stop here.” He directed LaRusso to stop alongside a curb.

“At the bar? Really, Johnny?” LaRusso was giving him that look that screamed ‘I am so much more refined than you are’.

“What? I’ve taken him here so he knows it.” Johnny defended.

“If you say so.” Daniel didn't sound overly convinced but he turned off the car.

They spent the next couple of minutes skulking around the vicinity calling out Cobra’s name. Johnny felt stupid doing it but he couldn’t not play along.

After a little bit, Daniel turned to Johnny with his hands on his hips. “I don’t think he’s here.” 

‘No shit, he’s not here.’ “Let’s scram, LaRusso.” Johnny said.

“You know you missed out on the beach.” LaRusso commented once they were driving again. “It was a pretty fun day.”

“Yeah, I heard from Miguel and the other kids.” Johnny nodded. “But I had some things to take care of.” He shrugged.

“I did think that Hawk was going to get into it with Robby though and maybe some of the others too.” The other man admitted. “Thankfully that didn’t happen.” 

“They can be rough but they’re good kids.” Johnny said fondly. “Hawk gets carried away but I can trust Miguel to keep him in line.”

“Yeah…” Daniel murmured thoughtfully and glanced over at Johnny quickly but then glanced away just as fast. Johnny wasn’t sure which part LaRusso was agreeing to. “Seeing Cobra protect Robby was exciting but scary, I didn’t know how far Cobra was going to go. What was strange was that Robby hadn’t even been around Cobra before but Cobra acted like he knew Robby.”

Johnny could have sworn the last sentence from LaRusso sounded accusatory. “Maybe he just saw a kid in trouble and wanted to help.” He pointed out. “He was surrounded by a whole bunch of teenagers, he could have just acted on instinct and association.”

“Hmm, that could be it.” His rival said but didn’t sound that convinced. “Ever thought of entering your dog in a talent show or something? Did anyone show you when he played volleyball?”

Johnny smirked. “Aisha showed me. I think me and Cobra would pick dying over doing tricks for a stupid talent show.”

“I should’ve guessed you’d say that.” His companion smirked.

“Besides, isn’t being a showoff more your move, LaRusso?” 

Daniel scoffed. “You say that but you upstaged me at my own event, you jerk.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t put out that commercial.” He shrugged. “But you can show me that trick with the ice sometime.”

“Very funny.” LaRusso said sarcastically.

“No, I’m serious. I’d like to see it.” Johnny admitted. It would be another chance just to spend time with the other man and maybe learn a new thing or two. Even if he was convinced his trick with the fire and the cement block was infinitely cooler.

“Maybe I’ll show it to you one of these days.” Maybe he was just hearing things but LaRusso sounded flattered to him.

Johnny made LaRusso pull the car over and they searched another area. His rival really got into the search for Cobra, it was so strange to see LaRusso be so passionate (in a good way) about something that concerned Johnny. He felt a little burned by it all the same because this was probably what Robby saw in the man. He could put all that energy into something that didn’t concern him and Johnny could barely manage the energy for things in his life. He knew he needed to repair the relationship he had with his son but he just felt like it was too late for him. Robby already had LaRusso so what did he need Johnny for?

“Fuck!” Johnny swore before he could stop himself and he placed both hands against a nearby wall and hung his head. With all his mood swings lately, he started to feel like a teenage girl. He needed to get focused but he was torn between running and staying.

“Johnny?” LaRusso was at his side in an instant. “Hey, I’m sure he’s fine-”

Johnny could have laughed out loud. Of course, LaRusso thought this was about Cobra. He was making an ass out of both of them by pretending Cobra needed to be found. “This isn’t about Cobra.”

“Oh.” Daniel said and then hesitantly asked. “What is this about?”

“Just-” He took in a breath. “How am I ever going to repair things with Robby when I don’t know where to start? You already know how to be a dad but I don’t know anything about that.” The last part came out like a growl as he grit his teeth together. 

The other man probably hadn’t expected to be part of an impromptu therapy session while searching for a dog but he took it like a champ. “Hey, I’ve seen you with the kids at your dojo and while I don’t always agree with everything that happens over there, they look up to you. That’s what being a parent is like.” Daniel placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder gently. “Just go off of that, you already have it in you even if you don’t realize it.”

“But all I ever do is fuck things up.” Johnny said bitterly as he looked down at the ground. “I don’t want to be like my stepdad. I would never raise a hand to my kid like he did to me but he treated me like I was nothing. Still does. I don’t want Robby to think I don’t give a damn about him. I keep thinking if I had had one positive father figure in my life then I wouldn’t be feeling like this. Like if I had had what you had.”

“Yeah, your stepdad and Kreese didn’t help matters.” Daniel agreed. “But you have to go your own way. I admit I was lucky to find a mentor and father figure in Mr. Miyagi but I don’t always act like I think he would have wanted me to. I can help you though, with Robby.” He offered kindly. “I think it might be my fault in some way with how he sees you. I’m not very good at resolving my grudges.”

“That makes two of us.” Johnny looked over at him. “Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate that.”

Daniel gave him an odd look.

“What?” Johnny’s heart sunk, fearing that he had done something wrong.

“You called me ‘Daniel’.” LaRusso mused. 

“That’s your name.” Johnny pointed out.

“But you’ve never called me that. It’s always ‘LaRusso’ to you.” 

He did have a point there. “Don’t make things weird, LaRusso.” He rolled his eyes playfully. It was better to just play this one off. 

“Oh, I’m the one making things weird?” Daniel joked and then after a brief pause, he asked carefully. “You’re good now though, right?”

“Yeah,” Johnny pushed off from the wall. “I’m good.”

“Good. I don’t think Cobra is here. We should find somewhere else to look.” Daniel was still set on this mission.

As they walked back to the car, Johnny asked softly. “You miss him don’t you?”

“Who?” For a moment, Daniel seemed confused but then he got it. “Oh, Mr. Miyagi?”

Johnny nodded.

“Yeah, every day. It’s that obvious, huh?” LaRusso gave a sad smile.

“It’s just that I notice your body language changes when you mention him.” He noticed that LaRusso’s eyes would get a fond look in them and he didn’t seem so tense. “I miss my mom. She was a good person.” It still gave him a dull ache in his heart when he mentioned her.

“You see? Forget about your stepdad, you don’t have any of him in you. You just have her. Think about her as you try to be better.” Daniel’s voice was soft. 

Johnny blinked. That was good advice. “Thanks.” He said gratefully. “I’ll try to think of it like that.” He couldn’t believe that he was getting along with LaRusso so well that the man was giving him actual life advice. It felt good but he felt nervous all the same, what if he slipped up?

He let LaRusso drive them to one other location and after that one was bust, he put his foot down. 

“I don’t think Cobra wants to be found. We should give up.” He said tiredly.

“Hold on-” LaRusso pulled onto the shoulder. “I just saw something big enough to be Cobra go down into that ditch.” He unstrapped his seatbelt and opened the door.

“Seriously?” Johnny was slightly exasperated but he got out too. 

“Help me down. It’s kind of steep.” LaRusso squinted down at the ravine and then offered Johnny his hand as he crept down.

Johnny hoped his hand wasn’t sweaty. He watched as the brunette jumped down and then started calling for the missing mutt. LaRusso wandered a little way down before running back to where Johnny was standing and attempting to scramble up.

“Pull me back up!” LaRusso exclaimed anxiously and glanced back like he expected to be followed.

Adrenaline kicked in and Johnny overshot how much strength he needed to use to pull the man up and he ended up on his back with Daniel falling over him. Their faces were so close that they were almost touching. ‘You could kiss him.’ A small voice whispered from back in his mind. Johnny could feel the blush that lit up his face, hopefully, the small amount of light wouldn’t make it visible. He didn’t know if he’d get this chance again but he didn’t want to fuck it up. He was too afraid to break this harmony between them. Even so, it seemed like Daniel stayed too close to him for longer than necessary but maybe Johnny was reading too much into that.

“Ugh, sorry.” LaRusso seemed flustered as he drew back. “That was not Cobra.”

Johnny stood up as well. “I could tell. What was it?”

“Like some kind of raccoon, I think?” He didn’t sound sure of it.

“Maybe you should get your eyes checked if you think a raccoon looks like my dog.” Johnny snorted.

“It’s dark, okay?” Daniel complained. “It looked bigger when I glanced at it.”

“Well, now what?” Johnny frowned.

Daniel checked his watch. “Now we eat dinner. I’ll drive you back to your place so you can get your car. I don’t know where that damn dog is.”

Johnny was pleasantly surprised to find that the invitation to dinner didn’t get rescinded upon the lack of Cobra’s presence. “He’ll turn up.” He said nonchalantly.

\--------

Dinner went smoothly. LaRusso didn’t have his kids there, just Amanda but Johnny would have preferred if it was just the two of them. They shared some good laughs here and there. He almost wasn’t sure he had heard it right when Daniel asked him if he wanted to spar since they didn’t get the chance the one day they had hung out because of Robby. As if Johnny would say no to that offer and Amanda rolled her eyes a little as they hurried off to do that.

Johnny couldn’t believe he was actually about to spar with LaRusso. He thought about it once when he was a teenager but he didn’t think it would actually happen. And then when LaRusso agreed to it previously, he had been so psyched for it but then it went as well as expected. But now it was finally happening. His heart was practically thrumming with nervous excitement. 

It went like a dance or at least that’s what Johnny thought to equate it to. At first, he was nervous about hurting Daniel but it wasn’t like the other was delicate. Still, Johnny knew he was the stronger fighter and even more so with his werewolf strength. He almost hesitated in striking first even though that was his thing but LaRusso motioned for him to come on and do it. The other swiftly blocked his blow and retaliated with a move of his own. LaRusso was fast and he was a quick learner. Johnny wasn’t so focused but he knew where to strike when needed.

“I feel like you’re holding back on me.” Daniel challenged. “Are you?”

“As if.” Johnny lunged forward but fell into LaRusso’s trap as his karate rival sidestepped him and then landed a point on his back. 

“Ha!” LaRusso was triumphant until Johnny delivered a kick to his side.

They circled each other much like they did at the tournament. Not enemies but not quite friends, something else entirely. An uneasy balance asking to be broken eventually and then mended.

Johnny wasn’t sure what happened but when they both came in for that final point, he and LaRusso ended up on their backs.

“What kind of move was that?” Daniel wheezed from the floor. “I think you cheated.” He accused.

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” Johnny quipped. “No one likes a sore loser, LaRusso.”

“Sore loser? That was clearly a tie.” The other huffed indignantly.

“I’m surprised you didn’t use your move on me.” Johnny laughed as he sat up.

“My move?” Daniel paused.

“Yeah, the crane kick.” He said it like it was obvious.

“Oh. That’s not just my move, you know.” Daniel pointed out modestly.

“It’s totally your move, LaRusso.” Johnny teased. “Why don’t you show it to me?”

LaRusso seemed to be studying Johnny’s face. “I don’t know… isn’t it going to be awkward for you?” He asked carefully as he referenced the past.

Johnny rolled his eyes. “I’m officially sick of living in the past. Besides, I used a version of your move when I saved Miguel from your daughter’s asshole friends.”

“What? Really?” Daniel seemed genuinely surprised. He didn’t bite on the comment about Sam.

“Pulled something while I did it too, karma I guess.” He shrugged.

“I tried to use the crane kick against someone else I was fighting after I fought you,” Daniel told him. “He grabbed my leg and threw me down. It was super embarrassing actually now that I think back on it.” He smiled but it was more uneasy than sheepish.

That got Johnny bothered. “Why were you even in a situation where you needed to use that again?” He couldn’t keep the frown off his face.

“Are my ears deceiving me or does Johnny Lawrence sound concerned for me?” LaRusso grinned.

“Hey, jerk, I’ve got feelings too.” Johnny shoved him. “You’re my karate rival, of course, I care if you’re karating someone else.”

“Huh.” Daniel looked at Johnny thoughtfully and Johnny panicked internally thinking he had said too much. He didn’t want to come on too strong. “It was when I went to Okinawa with Mr. Miyagi. The whole situation was very bizarre. A man there wanted to fight Mr. Miyagi to the death over honor but they got over it but I managed to piss off the guy’s nephew, Chozen, and he challenged me to a death match. It was, uh,” Daniel swallowed and didn’t even pretend that he wasn’t shaken by it. “Really scary actually. He tried to kill me before the match itself and I thought I was going to die. Luckily, I managed to come out on top but when he blocked my kick, it really threw me off my game.”

Johnny hadn’t realized he was clenching his fists and his jaw. “That’s fucked up, LaRusso.” But no more fucked up than what Johnny had put him through. How did LaRusso find himself in those situations? Talk about unlucky.

“It was a long time ago.” Daniel waved it off. “And to think that wasn’t even the worst of it…” He shivered but didn’t even give Johnny a chance to bite before he tried to steer the conversation away. “Anything big happen in your life?”

Johnny could tell him about being a werewolf but he was too afraid. He was in this con too deep and he was afraid of breaking the balance they were achieving currently. It’s not like LaRusso would believe him. At the same time, he had to say something because he knew that if he was too closed off (despite being vulnerable earlier) then Daniel would be too. “My life has kinda blurred together but a little bit before Robby was born, I started getting these periods where I would blackout for hours and then wake up in random places.” He could afford to bend the truth just a little.

Daniel looked shocked. “What? Like-”

Johnny caught where his mind was going. “And no, I wasn’t drunk, LaRusso.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.” Daniel defended quickly. “Does it still happen?”

“Yes and no.” He answered vaguely. “I still don’t know what it is.”

LaRusso was silent for a little bit. “Wow, I, um, hadn’t expected to hear that.” He admitted honestly.

“And I hadn’t expected to hear that you had more karate rivals than me.” He faked offense.

“Don’t worry, no one holds a candle to you.” LaRusso’s smile was coy.

Johnny felt a little too warm. His stomach twisted, was that supposed to be taken in another way that wasn’t flirtatious?

“So you seeing anyone these days?” It was an innocent question but it came at Johnny like a crane kick to the face. 

Was LaRusso testing the waters? Or maybe Johnny was just in his own private delusion. “No.”

“Interested in anyone?” Daniel still persisted.

“Yeah, but he’s taken-” Shit, what an unfortunate slip of the tongue.

“He?” LaRusso seemed caught off guard.

He could go back on it but it was already out there. “Yeah, he. Got a problem?” Johnny bristled.

Daniel put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “No problem here. I just didn’t know you were bi.”

“Neither did I.” Johnny admitted with a shrug. “It’s a recent thing.”

“Well, who is he?” Now LaRusso seemed invested.

Johnny slowly blinked at him. ‘Was this really happening?’ He thought. ‘It’s you, you dummy.’ “He’s married.”

“Oh, ouch.” Daniel winced. “I’m sure you’ll find another guy or gal.” 

‘No, I won’t.’ Johnny thought sadly. “Yeah, maybe.”

The other man checked the time and then made a face. “That late already? Time sure flies when you’re having fun, huh, Johnny?” And there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“That’s right, LaRusso.” He agreed. “I guess that means it’s time for me to go.”

“Let’s do something like this again.” LaRusso smiled at him. “You should tell me if Cobra turns up and I can help you out with Robby.”

“Got it.” Johnny nodded. “See you around, LaRusso.”

There was no grand exit for him but he still left feeling a great amount of satisfaction. For once, nothing went wrong with LaRusso and they got along so well, even sharing intimate details about themselves. Some closeness was achievable for him when he wasn’t Cobra, that made him happy. Even after all of that, another person might have called it quits and settled in for the night. Not Johnny though, once he had a taste he couldn’t get rid of the hunger. So as soon as he got home, he shifted and went right back to LaRusso’s house. It was late and LaRusso wouldn’t be up to catch him but Johnny didn’t mind sleeping out on the lawn. He felt good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a couple of chapters left now! :'0


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for homophobic language in this chapter.

“There you are! What happened to you last night?”

Johnny sleepily looked up from his place on the grass and realized that LaRusso was talking to him. The other man had a frown on his face but he seemed to be forcing it on to keep from laughing. If LaRusso thought “Cobra” was the type of dog to acknowledge a scolding, he was sorely mistaken. 

“I almost didn’t believe Johnny when he said you ran away but the chewed up leash was evidence enough. What gives, Cobra? I thought you liked coming here.” Daniel chided with his arms crossed across his chest.

Johnny just looked at him blankly and gave a little woof.

“Hmm, I don’t know what the deal is but you and Johnny are awful hard to catch in the same place.” LaRusso commented. “Maybe I should call him now-” He fished out his phone but then he put it away. “Nah, it can wait. I don’t have to go into work right away.” 

It was funny how attached LaRusso seemed to Cobra. Johnny wished LaRusso would be that attached to him. Even though LaRusso was technically attached to him, it just wasn’t the same. Johnny suspected that LaRusso’s reaction to finding out there was no Cobra would be a disaster of epic proportions. It would be a shock for anyone but tempers ran high for both him and LaRusso so he needed to brace himself for an inevitable explosion. But he hoped they would bond more before then so the blow would be softened. If he got closer to LaRusso then it would be easier to tell him, he just had to judge the right time. 

“Wait there.” LaRusso said before he hurried off to his car.

Johnny was curious until LaRusso came back with a leash and collar in hand. The other man hadn’t shown him that he had bought a collar as well. He was still as LaRusso fitted the collar over his head and attached the leash. It surprised him that the collar wasn’t personalized but if LaRusso had put a Miyagi-Do-themed collar on him, he might have thrown up.

“Now you can’t run off.” Daniel declared.

Johnny gave him a questioning look. Yes, it was true that he wasn’t planning on running off but it would only take one bite to get through the leash and he could easily rip the leash out of LaRusso’s hands anyway. 

“And don’t even think about chewing this one.” LaRusso cautioned as he pulled Johnny towards the car and then opened the passenger side door for the werewolf to hop inside.

It was a shame that he had missed one of LaRusso’s breakfasts but it was a fair trade-off for last night. Johnny still felt warm and fuzzy about it. 

“It’s funny because I never got people who talked to their pets like they were people but somehow I feel like you understand what I’m saying.” The man commented thoughtfully as he looked over at Johnny. “But I could just be crazy.” He shrugged as he pulled the car out of the driveway. “There’s something in your eyes that makes me wonder though…”

Even if LaRusso and others suspected there was something weird going on, there would be no way they’d ever come to the right conclusion. Though Aisha had made that spot on joke about it at the beach, werewolves weren’t supposed to be real. They were fictional, at least to everyone else who wasn’t a werewolf or Miguel. It was proving to be extremely difficult to come up with excuses as to why he and Cobra were never together now that so many people knew which was a pain in the ass. No one was ever supposed to know but now it was out there, if only partly. He had to let LaRusso in on the secret eventually, but everyone else? He wasn’t so sure.

He didn’t even realize that he had been zoning out until LaRusso stopped the car. He looked around and saw they were at a parking lot and they were parked in front of a Starbucks. 

“I’ll be quick.” The other told him and then cracked the windows a little as he got out and went inside the building.

Johnny wouldn’t be caught dead in an establishment like that. That was where all the soccer moms, hipsters, and kids got their drinks. They didn’t even sell real coffee, it was basically all sugar. Miguel had come into the dojo with Starbucks after hanging out with Sam and he had passed off some kind of frappe to Hawk and Aisha but he was drinking something hot. Johnny had congratulated him on drinking a real man's drink (coffee) but Miguel had admitted he was actually drinking something called a matcha latte. Johnny didn’t even bother trying to save face by not admitting he didn’t know what that was and Miguel happily offered him a sip so he could try. Miguel was lucky that Johnny’s instinct hadn’t been to chuck the cup right in the trash because the content was so foul. It tasted like straight grass and even with the sugar, it was not enough to mask it. Johnny had banned Starbucks from Cobra Kai from that moment which his students ruled as harsh but fair. Now a matcha latte was no doubt something that was up LaRusso’s alley.  
Daniel came back and he had a cup in one hand and a smaller cup in his other hand. He slid back into the car and put the one cup in the cupholder and then held out the other cup to Johnny with an embarrassed smile. “Sam kept telling me to get you a puppuccino, so I finally caved.” 

Johnny didn’t know what a puppuccino was but it looked and smelled like whipped cream to him. He looked from Daniel to the cup and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The indignity of lapping up whipped cream (it was whipped cream from the taste) from a dog cup just to make LaRusso happy. And much to his horror, he saw that LaRusso was filming him. ‘Probably for Sam.’ He thought. It was safe to assume she’d share this act with Miguel and he hoped Miguel had the tact to pretend he saw nothing of the sort. When Johnny was finished, he watched as LaRusso leaned back and started typing on his phone before putting it away. He sniffed the man’s coffee cup, it smelled funny like Miguel’s did and not like coffee.

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t like that.” Daniel laughed as he grabbed the cup. “It’s a matcha latte. I doubt Johnny even knows what matcha is.” He smirked.

He did know what matcha was, Miguel had told him. Maybe he should sprinkle a little bit of his matcha knowledge in a conversation with LaRusso sometime just to show him. At least he was spot on with guessing the others drink in the first place. 

“Now let’s see if Johnny will actually be home this time.” LaRusso sounded dubious and he was right to be.

\-------

The ride home went fast because Johnny mainly just hung his head out of the window and got lost in listening to LaRusso’s idle chatter. The man just could not help himself when it came to talking. Even having full-blown conversations with a dog. It made Johnny wonder what he got up to when he was alone. With a little bit of dread, he spotted his own car in the parking lot, reminiscent of when LaRusso had first brought “Cobra” home. It usually didn’t bother him but now that he had just had that good night with LaRusso, he could see that it would look bad that he wasn’t going to open his door. 

“C’mon, let’s go.” Daniel took the leash in his hand and led Johnny away from the car.

Then Johnny noticed something funny, there was someone else waiting outside of his apartment. He wasn’t sure who they were until they turned at the sound of LaRusso’s footsteps and he froze in his tracks. Cold fear gripped him and his mouth fell open. This was not happening.

“Kreese?” LaRusso’s voice came out in a petrified squeak which was exactly how Johnny felt in the moment. Though he found it strange that LaRusso sounded just as afraid as he did, if not more. 

“Mr. LaRusso.” Kreese’s eyes were black like a shark. He had aged but it was him. In his hand, he had a black bag.

“I knew you being dead was too good to be true.” Daniel spat like a cornered animal. 

“Now that’s not a very nice thing to say to an old friend.” Kreese purred, clearly enjoying himself already.

“You’re not my friend!” LaRusso shouted furiously and the outburst surprised Johnny. His hackles were raised obviously but LaRusso was so angry that he appeared to be shaking in rage.

“I didn’t think Johnny was your friend either.” The older man sneered. “What are you doing here?”

Johnny snarled and put himself firmly between Kreese and LaRusso, acting as a barrier as he snapped and snarled at the man. LaRusso’s grip on the leash was tight but it wouldn’t take much for Johnny to break free and mangle the man. It irked him to see that Kreese didn’t seem that afraid of him.

Kreese looked at him with a curious expression. “Nice dog you have there, LaRusso.”

“He’s Johnny’s dog.” Daniel answered stiffly.

That got a rise out of Kreese apparently because his demeanor grew unpleasant at once. “Why would you have his dog? Unless…” He trailed off as he looked Daniel over and Johnny saw that his gaze fell on LaRusso’s wedding ring. He lingered on the ring and then shook his head in what looked like disbelief. “I didn’t think Johnny was a faggot.” His voice was filled with disgust.

Johnny felt like he had been struck. Kreese always knew how to hit you where it hurt. He reacted blindly, jerking the leash and slamming the older man up against the door, snapping and snarling in his face.

“Don’t say that about him!” LaRusso’s voice had a dangerous edge to it. “You haven’t changed after all these years, you’re still a hateful piece of shit. I don’t know what you’re doing here but you stay away from Johnny.”

Now Kreese finally looked like he was in a pinch as Johnny growled at him but he still muscled on with his maliciousness. “I know Johnny, he’ll be mad but he’ll want me back in his life. I know how to work him.” He gave a confident grin. “Call off the dog, Mr. LaRusso, before you cause a scene.”

“Cobra, down.” Daniel ordered with reluctance. “You think you have Johnny and I all figured out, don’t you? Well, you don’t know as much as you think you do. Even if Johnny fell for whatever act you’re going to try on him, it won’t take much for me to set things straight.” His voice was cold as ice. “I don’t want to see your face again because next time I won’t hold back.”

Kreese laughed as he started to walk away. “That confidence of yours, Mr. LaRusso, it’s admirable but you’d be facing me in the real world. Unlike a tournament, there are no rules.” With that threatening line, he turned his back to them and disappeared around a corner.

“That fucking asshole…” LaRusso muttered furiously. “And this means that Johnny isn’t home. Again. Because Kreese was clearly standing out here knocking.” He gave a frustrated sigh and looked down at Johnny. “There’s no way I’m leaving you out here with that maniac hanging around even though I know you can take him.” 

If only Johnny could be two things at once, wolf and man, because now LaRusso seemed to be fretting over him and Cobra. He watched guiltily as the man tried to call him on the phone, knowing that his phone was inside his apartment.

“Seriously? Where is he?” LaRusso grumbled as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Wait a minute, Miguel lives here too.” Within seconds, they were both at Miguel’s door and Daniel knocked on it lightly.

Carmen answered. “Hello, Daniel, what can I do for you?” She asked politely with a pleasant smile on her face.

“Hi, Carmen. Do you or Miguel have a key to Johnny’s apartment?” Daniel wondered hopefully.

“A key to Johnny’s apartment?” This surprised her and she squinted at him a little skeptically. Given Johnny and Daniel’s history (or at least what Johnny had told her before), she had a right to be suspicious. 

“I just want to drop his dog off but he’s not home.” The brunette gestured to Johnny.

Carmen looked him over. “I didn’t know Johnny had a dog.”

At least Johnny knew Miguel could keep a secret but it seemed strange that she didn’t know at all.

“Really? That’s funny, maybe it’s because Johnny makes himself scarce when Cobra is around so you wouldn’t ever get a proper introduction. Do you have a key though?”

“Miggy! Come out here!” Carmen leaned inside her apartment and shouted for her son.

Miguel came out like a shot. “Yes, mom?” Then his eyes fell on Johnny and Daniel standing there awkwardly and he mouthed ‘Oh’. 

“Do you have a key to Johnny’s apartment?” She asked. “Mr. LaRusso wants to drop off his dog.”

“Yeah, I, uh, let me go get it.” Miguel said quickly, hurrying off and returning so fast like he was in a race. “I can take Cobra for you and make sure he gets back inside.” He offered.

“That would be great, thanks.” Daniel sounded relieved, one situation was solved for him. “Thanks for both of your help.” He nodded at both Miguel and Carmen as he handed off the leash. “Bye.” And with that, he was gone.

Now Johnny was very bothered to see Daniel go but he knew that Kreese wasn’t after him. He also knew that he would have to wait for Kreese to come to him so he could get rid of him once and for all. All that deep-rooted trauma the man had given him came flooding out in an instant and he felt exposed and raw. Maybe he would have offered Kreese a second chance but after hearing how Kreese spoke about him when he wasn’t around, there was no way in hell that Johnny wanted to get involved with that son of a bitch ever again. It just wasn’t worth the hurt.

“When did Sensei Lawrence get a dog?” Carmen addressed her son, sounding very confused.

“I’ll tell you about it after I do this,” Miguel said and headed towards Johnny’s apartment. Before he opened the door, he leaned down and took the collar off of Johnny’s neck which Johnny was grateful for. “Here you go, Sensei.” He whispered when he opened the door and he darted inside briefly to put the leash and collar on the table. He gave a little wave and then shut the door.

Johnny changed fast, he didn’t know if he should call LaRusso or just let LaRusso call him. He just decided on anxiously waiting and letting everything come to him.

\--------

Johnny heard the door to the dojo open. Instinctively, he called out. “We’re closed.” Before he realized who it was. Kreese.

“I thought you were dead.” He snarled, clenching his fists tightly.

“You ain’t the only one, kid.” Kreese said nonchalantly. “I’ve been away a long-”

Johnny cut him off before he could launch into one of his spiels. “I don’t give a shit. What the fuck are you doing in my dojo?”

“Your dojo?” Kreese laughed like he had said something funny. “I made Cobra Kai.”

“No, you killed Cobra Kai.” He bit back. “Nothing you see is yours anymore, it’s mine and you don’t have a place here anymore.”

His old Sensei frowned. “Such hostility, Johnny.”

“Did you think I’d welcome you with open arms?” Johnny seethed, feeling the anger boiling inside of him. “After what you did?”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Kreese sneered.

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Johnny lunged at him and they started fighting. This wasn’t like his playful sparring with LaRusso, this time Johnny wanted to deal damage. He was unfocused though, letting his anger strike for him, and even as he possessed supernatural strength just waiting to be unleashed, Kreese did know how to get the better of him. He soon found himself crashing against the mirrors with glass raining down over him. As he made to get back on his feet, his ego smarting slightly, Kreese stopped him.

“I just want to talk.” The older man told him.

Johnny crouched on the ground. “About what? How you taught me to fight dirty? How you broke my second-place trophy?” He took a breath. “How you tried to kill me?” He knew he was baiting an answer out of Kreese as soon as he said it.

“I never tried to kill you.” There it was, the easy denial.

He had wanted Kreese to acknowledge the existence of the event when he dreamed up scenarios of them meeting in his head but this confirmed what he knew in his heart. Kreese would never admit fault. With a cry of rage, his fangs grew in his mouth, Johnny came at him like a battering ram and they both crashed to the ground. He wanted Kreese to feel it, all of his pent up rage and aggression over the years and just how deep his old Sensei scarred him. Johnny lost track of what was fair in their fight and gave away to cold violence. He had Kreese pinned to the ground and he didn’t even care that it wasn’t technically karate he was using anymore as he brought his fist down and down into Kreese’s face. There was a dull ringing in his ears as he continued, he saw nothing but red.

Johnny could have killed Kreese, god knows he wanted to, but when Kreese tried to weakly push him off, he hesitated to inspect the damage. He didn’t like what he saw. He thought he would have but he didn’t. He stood up and backed away from the man warily, catching his reflection in the shattered glass on the floor. Johnny felt like a monster, this was a total Kreese move, and he felt ashamed as he looked at himself in the glass. His knuckles were covered in blood and his heart was hammering. At least he had sense enough to hold back some of that werewolf strength, otherwise, things might have turned out different. Kreese’s face was a bloody mess but it could have been way worse. He hung back so Kreese could get up.

Kreese spat out blood onto the floor. “That hot temper, you’re more like me than you realize.” He wheezed as he turned over.

Johnny’s face burned with shame. “I’m not like you. I know when to stop.” It came out halfheartedly. 

“You call this stopping?” The other man laughed and then coughed. “I have something for you, Johnny.” He pointed to the black bag that Johnny had taken note of earlier.

“I don’t want it.” Johnny declared hotly. “All I want from you is for you to get the fuck out of here.”

“You don’t mean that you’re just upset-”

“I do mean it! Get the fuck out of here!” He barked. “I’m giving you a choice, Kreese. You can leave on your own or I can throw you out on your ass.”

Kreese got mean at once. “You’re making a big mistake, Johnny.” He glared at Johnny as he got unsteadily to his feet. “You need me.”

“I never needed you. You were always bad and you haven’t changed.” He snapped. “I’m doing just fine without you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Kreese was incensed. “You’re running around with LaRusso now, he’s keeping your dog for you. What’s that about? You go without me for thirty years and you go soft. I always thought LaRusso was fruity, but you? Makes me sick-”

“ENOUGH!” Johnny shouted as loud as he could. “You keep his name out of your mouth. I told you to get out of here and I’m not fucking around!” He advanced on Kreese like an attack dog.

“Okay, okay. Maybe you’ve made your point.” Kreese said sourly. “But you’ll regret it, eventually. I’ll leave that bag here for you. Maybe it’ll change your mind.”

“Like hell, it will.” Johnny growled and he glared daggers at the man as he finally left the Cobra Kai dojo.

He thought about just tossing the bag out but his curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. Inside there was his second-place trophy, the one that Kreese had broken but it was fixed. Kreese really thought he had had everything in the bag, literally. This was only a tool to get Johnny to take him back, it didn’t mean anything. He threw the bag away in disgust and gave a cry of anger, putting his fist right through the wall of the dojo. Pain no longer meant anything to him and tears of frustration and anguish came down his face. He didn’t even notice the door of the dojo opening again.

“Johnny?” LaRusso’s voice broke through to him. 

Johnny sagged against the wall and wiped his face. “Yeah, LaRusso?” He didn’t know why he made his voice sound casual.

“I came by because of Kreese but I guess he was here. You didn’t take him back, did you?” Maybe it was because of how frayed his nerves were but did LaRusso’s voice sound accusatory?

“If I wanted him back would I be punching holes in the wall of my dojo?” Johnny shot back angrily. ‘Or punching his face in.’ He thought to himself in annoyance.

“No, I don’t think you would.” Daniel agreed. “I’m sorry.” He said softly.

Johnny was instantly soothed from Daniel’s tone of voice. “It’s fine, LaRusso.” He shrugged and then ran a hand through his hair.

LaRusso surveyed the damage with a worried expression on his face. His eyes went to the shattered mirror, the glass on the floor, the holes in the wall, and back to Johnny’s hands. “Let me see.” He motioned for Johnny to show him and Johnny did. “You shouldn’t hurt yourself over that asshole.” Daniel murmured as he held one of Johnny’s hands to examine the damage. When he looked at Johnny’s bloody knuckles, something flickered in his eyes like he was recalling a bad memory. It was a blink and you miss it moment but Johnny saw.

“What is it?” Johnny was more concerned about LaRusso than he was about himself. He knew that the other was hiding something from him. And it didn’t take a genius to guess that it had something to do with why he seemed so afraid of Cobra Kai and of Kreese.

“It’s nothing.” That was clearly a lie.

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Johnny told him.

LaRusso looked into his eyes and then sighed. “Okay, yeah, it’s not nothing. Just seeing your knuckles bleed like this reminded me of what happened to me after I came back from Okinawa. I wanted to go back and defend my title in the tournament but Mr. Miyagi said no to that since karate is for defense only. But then I started getting threatened by this guy called Mike Barnes who wanted me to sign the paper saying I would go back to compete. I was so scared during that time because Barnes was actively trying to kill me but Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t train me. Then I met Terry Silver-” He took in a shaky breath as he explained. “And I thought he was my friend but he wasn’t. I didn’t know it at the time but he was working with Kreese and Mike Barnes. He set it up so I would train under him at Cobra Kai to go up against Barnes who was in his pocket. Silver told me Kreese was dead which is why I didn’t buy him being dead this time. They had a sick game going and I turned into someone I didn’t like seeing in the mirror. Silver also made me hurt while he was training me, like making my knuckles bleed.” He paused to shiver. “I won against Barnes but it was hell. It was all a game to Kreese and Silver, Kreese wanted revenge and Silver was happy to help him.”

Johnny looked at him in shock. He suspected it was bad but not that bad. Jesus Christ, it sounded like something out of a movie. “Fuck. I don’t know what to say…” He thought the story Daniel told him about Okinawa was bad but this was way worse. Kreese trying to kill Johnny was bad enough but he couldn’t help but feel that he got off lightly. “I’m sorry.” His instinct was to hug LaRusso and he was a little surprised when he wasn’t rebuffed. It was nice being so close even as they both seemed like they were trying not to cry.

“Thanks, Johnny.” Daniel did sound grateful when they pulled apart.

“I wish you would’ve told me sooner.” Johnny said regretfully. “I didn’t know what Cobra Kai meant to you. I know it seemed like I opened it back up out of spite but that wasn’t it completely. I had Miguel asking me to train him, my stepdad trying to buy me out of his life and then I thought opening Cobra Kai made sense. If I knew, I wouldn’t have started it up again.”

“Yeah, it’s not something I think about sharing but it really could have cleared a few things up.” The other man admitted. “But I’ve been holding onto this idea of Cobra Kai that isn’t your Cobra Kai. Even if I do disagree with some of the teachings here, you’re not Kreese and you’re trying to be better. Kreese didn’t even try to act like he was any different when I met him outside of your apartment earlier.”

Johnny grimaced. “He tried to act nice but it didn’t last long. Some people don’t deserve second chances.” He glanced over his knuckles. “I beat him pretty badly and I’m not sure how to feel about it.”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it.” LaRusso told him. “I would have been tempted to do the same.”

Johnny snorted. “I feel like most people would, seeing as how he’s such an asshole. But maybe I should have held back on the wall.” He needed to get the dojo looking nice again. “I should clean this up.” He gestured around him. “And do some repairs.”

“I’ll help you.” Daniel offered quickly with a small smile. “I’ve got time.”

Johnny returned the smile. “Thanks, I could use the company.” It was obvious they both did. Even though Kreese got them both riled up, he felt closer to LaRusso now more than ever. Since LaRusso shared so many secrets with him, he knew he had to tell LaRusso soon. But not now, there was a calm settling between them that he didn’t want to break. It was also nerve-wracking that when he had to finally admit his big secret, his other secret about being in love with Daniel was tied up in that one too. All in due time he figured as he watched LaRusso sweep up the glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kreese should come with his own TW. I wasn't gonna put him in this fic but I did it for the drama and I wanted Daniel to tell Johnny about the events in TKK3. Also, I'm not planning on having Kreese in it after this.
> 
> This chapter is the calm before the storm.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The storm.

Everything had been going so smoothly for Johnny but it only took one big misstep to mess everything up. Unfortunately, that misstep took place after a full moon.

\-------

“What the fuck?” 

The sound of Daniel’s voice cut through Johnny’s peaceful slumber. He wasn’t even fully awake yet and he knew this wasn’t going to be good. 

“Johnny? What the fuck are you doing in my bed?” The man sounded seriously pissed off and confused. “And- and are you naked?” The horror was evident in his voice.

So it turns out he hadn’t woken up in time to shift back. That was really great. He didn’t even remember the shift if he was being honest, that hadn’t happened in a while. Johnny was so used to just letting the shift wash over him and being in control (well loosely in control), it didn’t even occur to him that he still had the possibility to slip up. He knew it had something to do with Kreese, the man had thrown him off his game and now everything was fucked. But he couldn’t blame it all on Kreese, he was at fault as well. 

“Where’s Cobra?” Daniel sounded puzzled and concerned about the “dog”. “He was supposed to be in here. Where’d you come from?”

“I was under your bed.” Johnny replied sarcastically against his better judgment as he rolled over to look at LaRusso.

“Wha- what?” The other man was taken aback. 

“I’m joking, Jesus Christ.” He rolled his eyes. He didn’t know where this sudden bite was coming from in his voice. 

“That’s not funny, Johnny.” Daniel scolded. “Whatever. I’m calling the police.”

“You’re calling the police?” Johnny didn’t like that. “Don’t do that, man, they’ll think I’m some kind of pervert.” That was the last thing he needed.

“Aren’t you?” LaRusso shot back.

Johnny was way too moon hungover and sleepy to deal with this. “What?” He frowned.

“Aren’t you a pervert? You’re in my bed, naked I should add and you won’t tell me how you got here.” Daniel snapped, pulling out his phone.

“Seriously knock that shit off.” He sighed, pulling the covers back, and was about to get out of the bed when Daniel gave a startled yelp. “What now?” He flicked his eyes over at him.

“I don’t want to see-” Daniel hesitated and his face was a little flushed. “All that.” He finished lamely.

“Oh?” Johnny snorted. “Then give me some clothes.” There was something comedic about this whole exchange, it made it feel unreal. Like a weird dream.

“Like hell, I will.” Daniel shot back. “I’m sure the police can give you some.”

“Dude, don’t make me come over there and wrestle that phone out of your hands. Neither of us wants that I’m sure.” Johnny pointed out as Daniel made a face. “Stop being a dick and just give me something to wear.”

“Once again,” Daniel huffed. “I don’t have to do shit for you since you broke in.”

“Ugh- I’ll explain it to you after you give me something to wear and promise not to get the cops involved.” 

“How the hell do you explain something like this?” Daniel seemed to be at his wits end.

“Trust me, it’s gonna be weird. But I can prove the weirdness to you.” Johnny said. “Even though I don’t want to...” he muttered low enough so Daniel didn’t catch it. Talk about a difficult morning.

Daniel hesitated, seemingly thinking. “Fine.” The word slipped out forcefully. “I’ll give you some clothes but if you can’t explain this to me. I will call the police or kick your ass.”

“Kick my ass? Isn’t Miyagi-Do karate about defense?” Johnny couldn’t help himself.

“Don’t start, Johnny.” Daniel’s jaw was tense as he went over to the closet and started rooting around. It didn’t take him long to dig something out. It was an old t-shirt and sweats that he threw at Johnny. He glared at Johnny one final time before leaving the room and shutting the door. From the halt in his footsteps, Johnny knew he was waiting just outside the door.

“Fuck me.” Johnny groaned, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He really screwed the pooch this time. This really was the worst-case scenario. He had wanted to tell Daniel about his secret on neutral ground but this was far from neutral. It also sucked to know that his reaction to any stressful situation was to start getting mad and defensive. He took the clothes that Daniel had given him and eyeballed them. He wasn’t sure if they were going to fit seeing as he was bigger than Daniel. Outside, he heard Daniel pacing impatiently and sighed while pulling the clothes on as fast as he could. The sweats were fine but the t-shirt was a little tight. Beggars can’t be choosers, he supposed. He opened the door almost into Daniel and the two men jumped back in surprise and then looked at each other awkwardly.

“Where’s the wife and kids?” Johnny just realized that Daniel hadn’t mentioned them when he was having his freak out.

“With my mother at a resort, thank god.” Daniel said.

“Do you have anything to eat?” Johnny was low-key starving.

LaRusso slowly blinked at him. “What? No. No, I don’t.” He frowned.

“You treat all your guests this bad?” 

“You’re not my guest!” Daniel snapped. “You’re-“

“Fine, fine. Don’t get your panties in a twist, Danielle.” Johnny waved him off dismissively as he began to walk towards the living room. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to demonstrate inside or outside. Daniel followed him angrily.

“Let’s go out back.” He jerked his head to where the pool was and LaRusso reluctantly came.

“I’m going to tell you something that will make me sound insane but it’s all true, so try to, uh, keep an open mind.” Johnny began.

“Uh huh.” Daniel crossed his arms and seemed unimpressed. 

“I’m Cobra.” He pointed his thumbs at his chest.

Daniel just stared at him blankly. “Like... Cobra Kai?” 

“No, no-” Johnny shook his head. “I’m Cobra as in my dog, Cobra. I don’t have a dog because I’m the dog. Well, actually I’m a wolf but-”

“Hold on- hold on a second-” Daniel cut him off. “Are you on drugs, Johnny?” He seemed annoyed but concerned at the same time. “Because that would make sense…”

“No! No. I’m not on drugs, LaRusso. And I can prove it.” He started pulling off his shirt.

“What? Why are you doing that? Don’t do that, please.” Daniel protested and he almost looked like he was about to hold a hand up to cover his eyes.

“Jesus Christ, I’m not doing a striptease for you.” Johnny rolled his eyes. “I’m trying not to destroy your clothes.” Maybe he should have shifted when he was in LaRusso’s bedroom but honestly, his mind was so unfocused.

“I’m so lost. What does that have to do with anything?” Daniel asked. “Why would the clothes I gave you be destroyed?”

“Oh fuck this.” Johnny rubbed a hand over his face in exasperation. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” It was always easier to change after a full moon and Johnny was so used to shifting lately that it really was like second nature to him (literally). He felt his skin turn to fur and his bones bend and crack, it was a good thing the transformation wasn’t painful. When his paws hit the ground, he shook himself and found that the t-shirt was still wrapped around his body in mangled scraps while the pants were not that badly damaged, which was good because he may need those later.

He heard a gasp and then a thud and he realized that Daniel had fallen over either in shock or fright, probably a mix of both. The man gawked at him and rubbed his eyes as if he had just woken up. 

Johnny took a step forward and Daniel scrambled back. His back was to the pool and he was dangerously close to falling in. As much as he maybe would have liked to see Daniel take a plunge into the pool, he didn’t particularly want to be liable if the other man passed out from fright in the pool and drowned. Darting forward, he came at LaRusso and grabbed his right pant leg in his teeth, and pulled him across the concrete, away from the water.

This was all Daniel needed to hop to his feet. “I- I can’t believe this.” He stammered.

“Yeah, me neither.” That was what Johnny would have said if he could talk as a wolf so instead, he gave a bark.

“The whole time it was… you.” His karate rival gaped. “This is insane, what the hell, Johnny!?”

Johnny couldn’t rightly answer him in his wolf state so he figured that it was probably time for him to change back. He gave a shake and concentrated, it was easier turning back into a man. As he slid back into his skin and stood up, he saw Daniel avert his eyes in embarrassment and he pulled the sweats back on as fast as he could. “I told you it was.” He said bitterly and pulled off the remnants of the t-shirt and threw them on the ground. 

The other man looked like he was going through several stages of grief all at once. “You- I- You licked my face? Practically on the lips too!” Daniel looked horrified and disgusted.

That was a weird complaint right off the bat. “When?” Johnny asked and cocked his head. “I don’t remember that.”

“Eww, that’s so gross!” The other man complained, rubbing a hand over his mouth as if to wipe off this violation.

“Hey, no one told you to let a dog lick you on the mouth.” He pointed out. “It’s not like I lick my balls or anything, no need to throw a fit.” But he knew that Daniel had every right to be freaking out.

“That’s- that’s beside the point, Johnny!” Daniel shouted angrily, motioning widely with his arms. “This whole situation is gross! You came into my house under false pretenses and you-” He froze and looked to be thinking about something. 

Maybe it was the time he had gotten dressed in front of “Cobra”. Or the other times that Johnny had been privy to private conversations. Or when Johnny acted like Cobra ran away and they spent a while looking for him. Johnny had done so many things wrong.

“You abused my trust, Johnny!” Daniel declared. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Johnny had to laugh (at this point it seemed like a force of habit) and Daniel looked at him in annoyance. “What trust? You never had any trust in me.” He thought back to when LaRusso thought he had let Kreese back in his life. 

“Oh you, asshole.” Daniel seethed with enough anger that he could have been hissing. “You played with me! I went over to your house asking about your “dog”.” He put exaggerated quotation marks with his hands around “dog”. “And you lied to me! And for what? What kind of sick power play is this? The whole time I thought I was spending time with your dog but it was really you.”

‘I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you so badly.’ Johnny thought desperately but the words died in his mouth. “As if I can tell anyone about this condition I have-” 

Daniel cut him off. “Except Miguel. A fucking kid.”

LaRusso had him there. “I had to-” Johnny paused, he was floundering. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“I don’t think you know what that means.” The other man bit back. “The right thing would have been to come clean to me immediately instead of stringing me around like a goddamn fool. What was the point of coming over here?”

Everything Johnny thought they had achieved together just came crumbling down. He didn’t know what to do. It was all his fault and he couldn’t even explain himself.

“Why did you keep coming back here, Johnny?” Daniel’s voice was low and tense.

Their eyes met and he just stared into Daniel’s. It was a good question but not one that Johnny was prepared to answer. The two men stood there in silence, fists clenched as if daring each other to make the first move. 

It felt so long since anyone had spoken and just when Johnny was about to, Daniel beat him to the punch.

“There’s something seriously wrong with you and it’s not this werewolf crap.” Daniel snapped. “Whatever this was, whatever we had- whatever semblance of hope I ever had for you to act like a fucking human being has just been extinguished. I really thought you were my friend.” His words cut deep. “Get off my property. Now!”

For some reason, Johnny felt like Daniel had just delivered a physical blow. He grit his teeth. “Fine, I’ll go, just don’t insult me by trying to act like you ever had any hope in me about anything.” 

“If you come back here again, I’m calling animal control!” Daniel threatened uselessly.

“You’d be better off buying a gun.” Johnny shrugged with disinterest, leaving Daniel staring at him with his mouth wide open in disbelief. He was ready to go but then he stopped short and turned back around to face LaRusso.

“You only ever thought of me as a monster, LaRusso.” Johnny’s gaze was hard. “And maybe that’s all I ever was.” With that, he turned his back on the other once more.

“Johnny-” Daniel began and his voice sounded strained but Johnny no longer cared what Daniel had to say to him. 

He shifted into his wolf form and then ran and ran until he felt like he couldn’t run any longer. He nearly considered running in front of some cars but he wasn’t suicidal, he was just hurt. He could never go back to a place that felt like a second home to him (but only because Daniel was there). Johnny didn’t even think Daniel wanted anything to do with him ever again. It stung. He had played out scenarios in his head, about telling LaRusso his secret, and in them, he always had time to explain himself. But with tempers running high, he didn’t get to offer up anything to calm LaRusso down. He should’ve known that their relationship was due for a collapse because that’s what always happened when he thought things were running smoothly with Daniel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A really big apology for just vanishing like that! I started feeling burned out and I got distracted by season 3. And from some comments, I started wondering if I should change things up during the end because I know some of you wanted Johnny to tell Daniel about his secret in a nice way... but I always planned for it to go like this (one of the first chapters I wrote up). Sorry, they had to fight for the plot :( but they'll be okay!


	9. Chapter 9

Over the past few days, Johnny was unsuccessfully trying to drink himself into a coma. All he was succeeding in doing was giving himself a massive headache which did distract from the pain in his heart slightly but he wanted to not be awake for a while. He knew he had really screwed up but he only had himself to blame. What had he been thinking really? That LaRusso wouldn’t react that way? Sure, he didn’t imagine himself waking up naked in LaRusso’s bed which really made the blow worse but he exploded just like Johnny figured he would earlier. He was ashamed of himself for even making a situation like this one. It was humiliating. He should have just left LaRusso alone and kept chaining himself up, or used more chains. It was foolish to think they would ever have a happy outcome with each other.

He had canceled lessons at the dojo and Miguel had taken notice that something was wrong because he brought Johnny food. Otherwise, Johnny doubted he would be eating too. He was just so miserable, lying around drinking and crying, and then drinking down his tears. It was not a good time. 

His head was killing him but he opened another beer. Someone knocked on his door. Johnny considered just letting them knock and then they’d go away but he thought maybe it was Miguel. Miguel was the only comfort he currently had.

He stumbled a little getting off the couch and hoped he didn’t look so bad that Miguel would want to talk a lot to him. “Miguel?” He asked as he opened the door and winced a little when the light of day bombarded him.

The person at his door was not Miguel. “Hey, Johnny… Can we talk?” LaRusso seemed nervous but he didn’t sound angry. He was the last person that Johnny had expected to see. Anxiety flooded through Johnny’s body.

They stared at each other. Johnny reacted by closing the door but Daniel jammed his foot in the crack before it could close all the way. If Johnny really wanted to, he could easily force the door closed but he found that he didn’t want to do that. The fight had all but left him.

“Can I come in?” LaRusso asked carefully once he saw that Johnny wasn’t going to try to close the door on him anymore.

Johnny sagged in defeat. “Yeah, come in.” He opened the door.

“Look, I’m sorry for the things I said to you.” Daniel said as he sat down on Johnny’s couch and moved away some of the beer bottles.

Johnny was genuinely surprised. “Don’t be.” He shook his head as he took a seat on the couch as well. Though he was careful not to sit too close. “I deserved it.”

“No. No, you didn’t.” LaRusso said quietly. “I just- I just didn’t expect it, that’s all. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad.”

“I caused this whole mess. I should’ve told you sooner or stopped coming over.” Johnny said. “Everything that happened was all my fault. I let it go on too long.”

“I wish you had told me sooner.” The other man agreed. “But I know why you didn’t.”

Johnny furrowed his brows. “Why aren’t you mad? I thought you came over here to yell at me…”

“I was mad. I was so angry at you for lying to me but I got over it. Especially when you said that line about you being a monster… I don’t think of you like that, Johnny. I said some really hurtful things to you but I was angry and confused.” LaRusso’s voice was soft and filled with regret. “I needed some time to think and figure things out about everything that happened.” He paused and said. “I wish you’d look at me, Johnny.” 

Johnny lifted his head, he had been staring at his feet the whole time like a kicked puppy and he looked into LaRusso’s deep brown eyes, unsure of what to say. He was just memorized by the other man and a little lost. He had thought that he was never going to see Daniel again after what transpired. 

“When I asked you why you kept coming over...” Daniel slid across the couch so he was closer to where Johnny was sitting. So close they could have been sitting on top of each other.

Johnny was blindsided as LaRusso inhaled quietly and leaned forward so close that their faces were almost touching. He didn’t know what to do. He was already getting flustered, he knew what he wanted to do but he didn’t know why LaRusso was so close to him. Then Daniel moved forward and took Johnny’s face in his hands. “I know why.” He said softly as he looked into Johnny’s eyes and then kissed him.

Johnny expected a physical fight with LaRusso more than he expected a kiss from him. It was like he was in a dream, he had had many of these with him and Daniel, but he always made the first move (because he thought he had to). This was real and he couldn’t believe it. It was the best kiss he’d ever had. The kiss was passionate, soft, tender, and filled with longing. LaRusso’s mouth was soft (as Johnny had always imagined it) and he felt so warm, his heart was pounding and he felt like he was under a spell. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging a mile a minute.

He still felt Daniel’s lips on his even as they separated. “When- how?” Johnny asked breathlessly. He wanted to ask how Daniel knew this was exactly what he wanted, even down to the face holding, but he couldn’t get the words quite right.

“At first I was so confused as to why you kept coming to my house, pretending to be a dog, but then I did some thinking. You started acting differently when we met lately and tracing it back, I really should’ve known when you said you were in love with a married man.” Daniel smiled. “And even when you hugged me, I realized I felt differently about you too but I just couldn’t find a way to put it into words until I fought with you.”

“Does- does Amanda know?” Johnny approached the subject tentatively. He wasn’t sure how they could make this work.

“Know that you’re a werewolf? No.” The brunette joked. “Know how I feel about you? Yes, and she took it surprisingly well.”

“Oh.” That was a relief somewhat.

“We’ll figure this out, one step at a time.” LaRusso assured him and he put his hands over Johnny’s. “In the meantime, I really want to know how you became a werewolf. This still feels a little unreal to me, I have to admit. I just want to know what you thought you had to hide from me.”

It was very true that he just melted under Daniel’s touch. “It barely feels real to me most days as well.” Johnny admitted. “I don’t know any other werewolves but they have to be out there seeing as some son of a bitch bit me and didn’t even bother sticking around. It happened years before Robby was born, I was kinda scared I might have passed it down but that didn’t happen so I think it’s a bite that does it. I was on a bender, like now-” He was surprised that Daniel hadn’t said that he tasted like beer. “And this huge wolf sank its teeth into me; I passed out and the bite was already healing when I came to. When the full moon came, things got weird and I woke up naked in a park.” He had only told Miguel this before and it was freeing telling another person too. He started to explain the correlation between him changing on the full moon and what kind of experience he would have depending on his emotions at the time while Daniel sat at rapt attention.

“Wow… I just- wow. Sounds like something out of a movie.” Daniel shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t imagine facing all of that alone. Why did you tell Miguel though?”

“Because- because I was worried about you.” He answered truthfully.

“Me? Why?”

He swallowed a little nervously. “I was in control of my shifts before I met you again and I could feel myself losing control. I thought it was because I wanted to hurt you so I started chaining myself up again.”

Daniel looked floored. “You chained yourself up?” Even though Johnny had just said that he had thought he might attack Daniel in the past, the other man seemed more concerned about him.

“Yeah, in my bedroom.” He nodded his head in that direction.

“Hold on- I have to see this.” The other stood up quickly and Johnny followed him in there. Daniel gasped, taking in the scratches, the chewed furniture, and the chain. “You really did this to yourself?” He turned to Johnny in horror.

Johnny shrugged. “It looks worse than it is, I swear. I thought I had to, which is where Miguel came in. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him so much responsibility but I was desperate. He was supposed to come in when the full moon was out and calm me down so I wouldn’t try to go after you. It worked fine until I escaped that one day when he was late and then after that, I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t want to hurt you, I just wanted to be close to you and I came to see you whenever I could, even when there wasn’t a full moon.”

“You know in some weird fucked up way, that’s actually really sweet.” Daniel commented fondly. 

“Only Miguel was supposed to know about me being a werewolf but now everyone around me knows. Sort of. I didn’t know “Cobra” would be such a hit.” Johnny gave a little grimace. “Miguel came up with that name by the way.”

“I think I’m still gonna have to wrap my head around you and Cobra being one and the same. I really liked that damn dog.” Even though he tried to say it in a humorous way, Johnny could still tell that he was disappointed. He felt a little guilty. As if sensing Johnny’s emotions, Daniel quickly added. “But I like you a lot more.”

Johnny smiled. “Now I don’t have to sneak around anymore which is a plus. Although am I supposed to act like I still own a dog to my students?”

“Huh.” Daniel murmured thoughtfully. “No idea there. It was nice of you to go to the beach with them. You could’ve just told them no in the first place.”

“What am I? An asshole?” He snorted. “Your daughter gossips about me being at your house all the time. I thought it was only fair.”

“Sam does not gossip.” LaRusso defended. “But maybe you do have a little bit of a point.”

Johnny sat down on his bed. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again, Daniel. I figured that I fucked everything up.” ‘Like I always do.’ He wanted to add but didn’t.

“Yeah, things got bad… I won’t deny it but I let my anger get the best of me.” The other man admitted, sitting down next to him. 

“I probably would’ve reacted the same way.” Johnny said.

“We’re past it now though.” Daniel smiled at him lovingly. “You’re not alone anymore, Johnny. You’ve got me, fully and completely.” He leaned against Johnny.

To think that things had turned around for him so quickly. No more hiding for him any longer, the wolf side and his feelings about Daniel were now out in the open. And funnily enough, his feelings were reciprocated. For the first time in his life, Johnny really felt like he had a future. ‘I know why.’ Those words that LaRusso had spoken would live in his mind for a while. The rest of the day was spent with them snuggling up close to each other and enjoying each other's company (as Johnny sobered up quickly).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this whole fic is based on me getting the line "I know why." stuck in my head :) just one more chapter to go now :')


	10. Chapter 10

Things moved fast. Daniel and Amanda separated but they parted on amicable terms and they actually hung out a lot. An open marriage sort of situation just didn’t feel right to all three people as Johnny wanted to see Daniel full time, now that he didn’t have to resort to trickery to spend time with him. Daniel’s kids were upset at first but they came around especially since Amanda and Daniel were still like best friends. Another big change was that Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai were no longer dueling dojos and combined as one (the new name was still up in the air). Even though it was tough for Johnny to leave his apartment since Miguel lived there, LaRusso had put his foot down about living in “that crummy little apartment”, so he and Johnny moved somewhere else. It was a nice house, nowhere near the size of LaRusso’s old place but it was certainly a lot bigger than Johnny’s.

\------

“Where are your dog supplies?” Sam questioned in an accusatory manner. “I looked through all the boxes you have left out here and I don’t see a dish or anything else.” She and Miguel had been helping Johnny and Daniel move in boxes. Johnny hardly had anything to take with him but Daniel had a lot.

Johnny and Daniel exchanged an ‘oh shit’ look.

“You didn’t get rid of Cobra, did you?” She looked at them both with a frown and her hands on her hips.

“Well-” Daniel started.

“I threw that shit out. It was old.” Johnny supplied. “Cobra’s around.” He made a vague gesture.

That seemed to appease her a little and she shrugged and went to find what Miguel was up to.

“We have gotta tell her about Cobra.” Daniel whispered to Johnny. “At this point, it looks too weird.”

“Yeah, and what am I supposed to do? Tell everyone who ever met Cobra?” Johnny snorted. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted that but Daniel was right, it was starting to look weird. Miguel had even reported to him that a few students asked about Cobra now and then. 

“Maybe we could sit everyone down who we trust with this information and let them know.” His partner suggested.

“They’re gonna want to see me change since no one would believe I’m actually a werewolf. Do you know how awkward it is to change with clothes on?” Johnny complained.

“What if you shifted without a shirt on? That would be less hassle.” Daniel said.

He stared at him. “I am not doing that.”

“Yeah…” Daniel smiled sheepishly. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“But you’re right, I’ve got to let other people know about me. Like Amanda, your kids, definitely not Stingray.” It would be weird for everyone to know but he was the one who dug his own grave. They would need to weed out who they didn’t think could be trusted with this information. Johnny didn’t want his condition to be used against him, that was his worst fear. He didn’t think that Daniel’s son really needed to know but he included him as to not sound like a dick. 

“Definitely not Stingray.” Daniel agreed.

“But everyone’s going to think I’m really fucking weird.” Johnny pointed out with a groan.

“I’m sure they’ll be too shocked about the werewolf bit to even think about what you were up to when you were a werewolf.” 

“You would think it was weird.” He stated. “And you did.”

“Yeah, well, not everyone thinks about situations the same way.” Daniel shrugged. “Besides, you were coming to my house. So I think maybe only Amanda, Sam, and Anthony would think about it as I did.”

“You better be right about that.” Johnny muttered just as Miguel and Sam entered the room.

\-------

“It’s weird that my parents aren’t together anymore and my dad is with your Sensei now.” Sam said. “My mom doesn’t seem unhappy though which I guess is good but I never would’ve seen it coming.”

“I did.” Miguel claimed. All of it was pretty obvious looking back now. Sensei Lawrence had gone from claiming he was going to attack Mr. LaRusso when he changed into a werewolf to going over to his house when it wasn’t a full moon. And the beach day was evidence enough. Miguel had never mentioned anything to Johnny since it wasn’t his business but he had suspected something the entire time. Even though Sam’s parents had split, Sensei Lawrence and Mr. LaRusso were so happy. Still, he wondered how his Sensei had told Mr. LaRusso, maybe he would tell that story one day.

“You did?” Sam was surprised and suspicious. “How?”

Miguel clammed up, knowing he had said too much already. He just shrugged and walked away from her.

“How, Miguel?” Sam called after him as she chased him.

\-------

“Full moon tonight!” Daniel sounded a little too giddy. “I even marked it on the calendar.” The brunette pointed to the date which had “full moon!!!” written there and circled.

“Yeah, I saw that.” Johnny shot Daniel a questioning glance. “Are you going to be like this every full moon?”

“Like what?” 

“Like you are now.” Johnny gestured at him. “All excited and shit. I’ve already shifted in front of you a bunch.”

“I’m trying to be supportive.” His boyfriend shot back. “I feel bad that you had to be alone with this for so long.”

Johnny couldn’t help but smile at that. Okay, that was a cute gesture. He was still a little unused to this whole ‘people care about you and this perfect guy (your high school karate rival) is in LOVE with you’ because of how his life had been leading up to this moment (with the werewolf shit too), he hadn’t thought that things would work out so well for him. Sometimes his self-loathing came back in full force. Daniel had his own issues to deal with so Johnny couldn’t put all of his problems on him. Johnny went over and nuzzled his face into Daniel’s neck affectionately. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

\-------

He could feel the moon coming, feel its pull on him as he got ready for the shift to overtake him. “Do you have to be here the entire time?” 

“Why? Are you suddenly modest?” Daniel smirked as Johnny shrugged off his clothes.

“Maybe if you stripped too…” He muttered. “It’s just that you know I’m stuck like this until morning. I can’t change back.” That was the funny part of changing on a full moon, on the full moon, you were stuck as a wolf. It never bothered him when he had Miguel coming over to calm him down or when he escaped over to Daniel’s house in the past because he had no need to change back. 

“Of course I know that, Johnny.” The other man told him. “What are you worried about?”

“I don’t know.” Johnny admitted. “You could get bored.” It was a possibility since Johnny couldn’t exactly hold a conversation as a wolf.

Daniel laughed at him. “It’s impossible to get bored when you’re around. You know I like both your forms.”

“Okay, okay but I better not catch you taking any pictures of me.” Johnny pinned Daniel with his gaze. “Or I might bite you.” He threatened in mock seriousness.

“No promises.” His partner replied.

Then there it was, the moon had its command over him and Johnny didn’t get to say anything else as the wolf got the controls. All his shifts had been easy and since his life was on the up, he no longer had to worry about waking up and not remembering what he did during the night. When the full moon came calling now, he was right where he wanted to be. His first action for the night was to tackle Daniel and smother him with kisses.

“Hey!” Daniel tried to push him off but he was very much pinned. “This is cute but in an asshole way because you’re kind of crushing me to death.” He complained uselessly.

Johnny’s only response was to give a triumphant howl which he was sure their neighbors really appreciated and he and Daniel tussled throughout the rest of the night until they got tired. The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was resting his head on Daniel’s lap, feeling really, really happy.

\-------

“Look, my dad sent me this pic of him and Cobra together.” Sam showed Miguel her phone.

The picture consisted of Mr. LaRusso with his arm wrapped around the werewolf’s neck as Johnny looked disgruntled in the face of the camera. “That’s cute.” Miguel said.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that we never see your Sensei in the pictures?” She questioned.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Miguel didn’t like where this conversation was heading.

“I think there’s something weird going on.” His girlfriend declared. “And to be honest, I’m starting to suspect that you’re in on it.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“What? Me?” He tried to feign the right amount of ignorance and shock but it honestly did not look like he fooled her, judging from her frown. 

“Well, I’m getting to the bottom of it, with or without you, Miguel.” Sam was determined.

‘Oh boy.’ Miguel thought, he needed to tell Johnny about this before her hunt for the truth got too far. “Just let me talk to them first, okay? I promise there’s a perfectly reasonable answer to all of this.” He lied.

“Okay.” His girlfriend crossed her arms. “There better be.”

\-------

Inside their kitchen, Johnny shivered as a cold sensation went down his spine.

Daniel noticed that as he took out some plates. “Are you cold?”

“No. It’s like one of those feelings you get when something is about to happen. Like someone walked over my grave.” He said a little uneasily.

“Well, maybe it’s because Miguel just texted me to tell us that Sam is suspicious and wants to know why you don’t have any pictures with Cobra.” Daniel supplied. Miguel knew that Johnny wasn’t the best with phones so when he needed to say something to Johnny, he sent it through to Daniel instead.

Johnny sighed. “So that bumps up my plan of telling people even sooner, huh?”

“Looks like it.” Daniel replied sympathetically. 

“Can’t wait.” Johnny said sarcastically.

“Look at it this way, if you hadn’t been running around as Cobra, we most likely wouldn’t have gotten together.” His boyfriend always had the right answer. “So you win some, you lose some.”

“When you put it that way…” Johnny leaned in for a kiss. It would be tough but Daniel was right, it was a small price to pay for everything else that had gone right. Who cared what the others thought? He and Daniel were happy so that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! Thanks to everyone for reading and taking this journey with me. <3 This is the most I've ever written for a fic and this is the first time I've finished such a large fic too. It feels good to finish it! This fic ended up longer than I had planned and I know my updating schedule wasn't exactly timely but I'm thankful to the people who stuck with me! :)
> 
> I'm definitely gonna revisit this AU again because I want to explore some things I didn't get to (and didn't feel like fit in this story). Examples being Johnny telling people about his secret and bonding with Robby (which is important).
> 
> Much love to all my readers <333


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